


Flawless

by strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alphas are from Mars Omegas are from Venus, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst and Porn, Empress Rey, End of the World, Gladiator Alpha Ben Solo meets Empress Omega Rey, I've never written a fantasy post-apocalyptic ABO royalty romance with smut before okay, Omega Rey, Omega Verse, POV Rey, POV Rey (Star Wars), The Force Ships It, Top Kylo Ren, Topping from the Bottom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-10-12 18:31:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17472761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie/pseuds/strawberrycupcake_huckleberrypie
Summary: Empress Omega Rey, heir to the Venus Crown was educated abroad but has come home to claim her throne.Choosing a tournament winner as consort is theoretically simple. Alphas fight, omegas choose.And now it’s Rey’s turn to pick.orThe fantasy post-apocalyptic, intergalactic A/B/O royalty romance where alphas are gladiators raised on Mars and omegas are rare and powerful goddesses raised on Venus.Alphas fight for omegas, for a change.*ON HIATUS





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [@lilithsaur's](https://twitter.com/lilithsaur) Empress Rey, a Queen of Fire and Beauty and by every historical and dystopian novel I've ever read, as well as all of my Rey stans who are ready to see her empowered AF

 

 

 

*****

Cloudfalls spilled down the volcano.

She would definitely miss cloudfalls on Earth.

  
  
Rey stood pressing a hand to the curved glass of the dome, watching the cloudfalls bubble out from beneath the city to the surface. Uninterrupted cotton clouds tumbled over the edge, a sulfuric acid dream brewing under the City of Grace. Leia’s hand fell gently atop her shoulder and Rey leaned a cheek to rest against her Queen’s touch.

“It’s time.”

Rey sighed and stepped closer to the glass, mesmerized as she’d always been by the constantly tumbling clouds. They disappeared, falling to the planet’s crust somewhere beneath the thick layer of impenetrable gauze.

“They’re so beautiful,” Rey murmured, staring at the piles of clouds swept out of view, a constantly brewing mist sliding to the Venusian surface. “I’ll miss the clouds.”

She turned to face Leia whose sympathetic eyes met hers as she felt tears well. “My beauty,” she said, wiping a single tear as it trailed from Rey’s eye down her freckled cheek. “Don’t cry.”

“I won’t.” She sniffled as she ran a sleeve beneath her nose gracelessly. The lace scratched her skin delicately. “I’m not.”

Leia smiled. “Oh, Rey. I know,” she said, squeezing the girl closer. “It’s hard to make a journey like this. Trust me, I know, but this is a necessary part of your education. If you’re going to rule, you must know how. And in order to know how,” she said, pulling back to meet Rey’s wet eyes, “you must know the Story.”

“I know - I just...I don’t want to leave. If I have to learn the Story, why can’t I do that here? Is it really so essential I go all the way to the dead world?”

 

She was pouting, and under normal circumstances she would’ve been chastised for whining to her queen. She watched Leia’s dark eyes rove across the endless cloudscape, compressing the hope in her chest as she waited. The many times she’d argued the question before had left Leia unmoved, and the Council had been utterly impervious to her requests.

 _Omegas need a queen,_ they’d said. _Omegas need a ruler, a defender, a sovereign, and Your Beauty must be equipped to lead._

 

“It’s not really dead, you know,” Leia murmured with a far-off look as she gazed out the glass dome wall. “When I was young it was teeming with life. Vibrant. Diverse. Billions of people living on a rock many millions of years old. It was only after the War and the Split that we came to think of it as dead. For me, it is…”

“What? What is it?”

“It’s…” Leia stared off and Rey studied her dark eyes as they roved the clouds.

_What did she see? Sulfuric gas? Barren, rocky terrain? The same pale, shifting cloudscape Rey had seen churning beneath their City of Grace everyday of her life?_

“To me it is still alive,” Leia said, her clear, dark gaze meeting Rey’s. “And still useful. Earth is a cautionary tale, dear one, and it is time you heard the Story from the keepers of the Truth.”

Rey sighed as Leia tugged her to the waiting transport, a firm arm locked around her slim shoulders. The angel wings at the back of her gown denoting her status as heir to the Throne of Beauty crushed against her shoulder blades.

“Here,” Leia said, placing a holopad into Rey’s hands as she turned to face her at the ramp. “I’ve made sure Briar loaded it up with all the best nonsense. Should keep you entertained on the flight.”

Rey leaned close to kiss her queen’s rosy cheek, using all her willpower to keep from begging. _A future queen doesn’t beg._ She could almost hear Phasma’s voice in her head where it had been firmly lodged the eighteen years she’d been raised in the Beautiful Palace.

“Thank you, Your Beauty,” she said, squeezing tears into the corners of her eyes as she turned to face the ramp. Steam drifted towards her and Rey lifted the train of her gown to climb as Leia leaned close, whispering conspiratorially as her dark eyes sparkled.

“Oh, and Rey. Tell them to take you to see the falls. At least once.”

“There are cloudfalls on Earth?”

 

A wistful smile flitted across Leia’s face as she leaned back, lacing her hands together as they fell against her waist. Her shoulders straightened.

“Not clouds, my girl. Waterfalls. You’ll like them.”

“But what if - “ Rey began, moving further into the transport as her ladies bent to gather her train. Leia interrupted her as the bay door lifted, and her last glimpse of Venus was the sunlight glinting off the diamonds in Leia’s omega crown.

“You have everything you need,” she said, and the door hissed shut.

 

*****

“I thought that was a myth.”

“No. It’s true. All of it.”

Rey’s brow creased and she ran a hand over the book’s smooth page. Colorful images flickered as battlefront scenes moved when her hand moved over the pictures. People in the live photographs died and came to life again as omegas and alphas were mowed down as Anakin Skywalker led the attack on the American eastern seaboard. 

American.  
Eastern.  
Seaboard.  
All words Rey had no concept of when she’d arrived, and even now offered her only a vague idea of the world as it had been before the War and the Split. She leaned closer to the book, studying the faces of the people who hadn’t escaped, who had died not because of their designation, but because of their ideals.  
  
Would she have bent the knee and been willing to kill betas? Would she have pledged allegiance to the Empire, or would she have led a rebellion and protested like the people in the photos of the book she held?

Omegas and alphas waved flags and held signs, mouths open in breathless, fierce protest as Force lightning lit the scene on the pages.

 

_Freedom for All_

_Liberté, égalité, fraternité_

_Alpha - Beta - Omega United_

 

On the next page the protestors lay limp beneath their banners.

“Anakin Skywalker was fatherless. A mysterious virgin-birthed force-sensitive many believed was the savior of mankind. The Messiah. He was powerful beyond what anyone at the time was accustomed to, and he was single-minded in his ascent to the Empirical throne.”

Rose turned a page of the book in front of Rey, and pointed to a photo of his coronation.

“And his queen,” Rey said, eyes falling to the woman in a coffin he stood crying over. Flowers lay in her curls, hands stilled on her chest as the coffin levitated in the photo. “She died?”

“She did.” Rose sighed, and turned a page. “In childbirth. When she had Queen Leia and her twin brother, Luke, the alpha.”

 

Nearly identical, the babies twisted in their matching Moses baskets. Leia was tiny, smooth-skinned where Rey knew her to be aged and wide-eyed instead of wizened.

“Queen Leia was whisked off to Venus which was already inhabited and Luke was sent to Mars where all alpha males had been shipped beginning shortly after Emperor Anakin’s demise.”

“So awful. Tragic,” Rey whispered.

She remembered Leia’s far-off stare, how her eyes seemed to see beyond the sulfuric mist that wafted around the City of Grace back on the Ishtar Terra continent on Venus. Maybe what Leia had envisioned was Earth. Maybe she was imagining her twin brother, torn from her when they were babies. Maybe she was imagining where he had been taken along with all other alphas, to Mars.

“Tragic…” Rose said as she flipped a page, “but, necessary. Omegas were the rarest designation even then, and with an alpha like Anakin in power, no one was safe.” Images of chained women, enslaved and auctioned made her breath catch in her chest as her eyes filled with tears. Their silent cries and pleading faces gripped Rey as she gaped, images burning through her eyes into her brain as she willed herself not to look away.

She had no idea the Story would be so shocking in brutality, so unnerving.  
Haunting.

And enraging.

A flicker of loyalty swelled to an inferno as her furious indignation flamed to life. Those were omegas in those pages - her people, her sisters - and her nostrils flared as her eyes narrowed. The photos lined the pages of the history book as she turned a page, the Split and rows of endless transports lined to carry alphas and omegas far from one another.

 

Separate planets, divided by Earth between them.  
Alphas on Mars and omegas on Venus, separate but equal and sovereignly ruled.

When the peace accords were signed and Anakin Skywalker lay dead in the ground, his followers dispersed or imprisoned and what was left of Earth still smoking in ash heaps, the omegas and alphas diverged into deep space, and only betas were left behind. A government with a slew of ministers oversaw the rebuilding of infrastructures, their most important task of all to be keepers of the Truth.  
  
If any alpha or omega ever forgot what happened in the War, what caused the Split, it was all here. Books lay ready to horrify under plexiglass in the vast libraries of New York. Rey sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing the furrows from her eyebrows.

 

“It’s still a lot to take in.”

She’d been wrapping her mind around it for months, and the paradigm shift still made her head spin. It was strange enough getting used to a new calendar, time frames, distance from the sun.

The fresh scent of Earth’s atmosphere was enchanting, even when the wind smelled charred and haunted. No dome. No curved glass wall surrounding this city.

Rey could walk concrete sidewalks on the Earth’s surface in casual clothes while the sun warmed her shoulders kindly. No angel wings or crystal crown. No jeweled sandals laced to mid-calf, no bell-sleeved, midriff gowns with trailing skirts.

She tied her long hair into three buns and stuffed whole cupcakes into her mouth. She laughed until she snorted, unlady-like, ill-mannered, and she watched the waves as they crashed around the Statue of Liberty’s waist in the harbor.

Rey was more than happy the monument wore the muted green crown as she sprawled in the ease of anonymity.

Even Niagara Falls, assaulting her ears with noise, and splashing her face with spray charmed her in its’ difference from the silent, forbidden cloudfalls at home on Venus. Everything about Earth was foreign and raw, constantly invading her senses and challenging her thinking, and Rey revelled in every moment.

Rose stood and Rey joined her, chairs scraping against the carpeted floors of the cavernous library as they reshelved the heavy history book. Her ladies-in-waiting would already be in her suite, just as they had every day for nearly a year since their arrival, anxious for Rey to be served dinner and bathe in scented Venusian solar water. It was the ritual most precious to the omega crown, the perpetual beautification system Rey had adhered to all her life, neverending as the churning cloudfalls of her castle home on Venus.

As they walked down the wide, grey stairs that emptied onto the sidewalk, Rey’s feet stuttered and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. A smell - an aroma rich as melted chocolate, spiced heavily as liquor and earthy as wet forest wafted past her. She inhaled deeply as her arms prickled with goosebumps and the soft gland between her neck and shoulder thrummed.

_Alpha._

Her omega brain hummed with yearning and Rey sniffed the air as her eyes slid closed. Instinct enveloped her. She swayed on the step as the scent wrapped around her, calming, intoxicating.  
Crucial.

 

Rose’s hand on her wrist jolted Rey back to herself, and her eyes fluttered open. A flash of red caught her eye as a trio of men slowed on the sidewalk. Dark waves, thick curls, and shocking red - they were a powerful pack standing just feet from her, and Rey had never been face-to-face with a group of alpha males in her life.

She knew the Martian-reared alphas also journeyed to Earth for education, betas were the keepers of the Truth after all, but she was not supposed to see them until the time of her betrothal at the tournament.

At nineteen she’d be coronated, and soon after she’d make the champion her consort. If alpha and omega lines were to be aligned for further generations, they must be joined by royal bloodline as well as a signed treaty.

Nothing could have prepared her for the wall of alpha scent that assailed her on the library steps in New York, not a hundred books about the War or the Split, not a thousand days at home in the Beautiful Palace where alphas were a concept and a mystery.

Deep amber eyes ringed in dark pitch found hers as she breathed deeply, and Rey watched as the tallest alpha was pulled by the arm down the sidewalk. They hurried away and Rose loosened her grip on Rey’s wrist as she exhaled loudly.

“That was close,” she sighed, raising her eyebrows at Rey. “You ready? It’s almost sunset. We should get you indoors, Your Beauty.”

Rey nodded as her senses relaxed, scalp tingling and hands unclenching as she made her way to the sidewalk. One last glimpse before the wide alpha with thick, black hair disappeared around a street corner, taking his dark aroma with him, and Rey fell into step with Rose.  
  
It didn’t matter who he was, who any of them were, really.  
She was nearly of age, and her title made her as good as betrothed.

 

After all, she was The Great Beauty. The future Queen of Venus, ruler of omegas, goddesses of love and beauty. Omega Divine.

The Flawless One.

 

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> brain: Berry. *taps nails on desk* Um, WTF are you doing
> 
> me: who - me? *looks around innocently*
> 
> brain: *looks at me with disgust* Yes. YOU. WTF, Berry? You have eleventy billion WIPs right now, and you're late AF pulling together a Sunshine State update. 
> 
> me: I'm sorry. Really. I just had this plot bunny running around in my head - no...not a bunny, like...a - a horse. Stampeding. Like, a plot _elephant_ and it was crushing all the other content with its giant elephant plot ass and I couldn't get anything else done until I put this into a doc so...there. *motions to Google doc* I did the thing. 
> 
> brain: *stares witheringly*
> 
> me: I'm gonna get back to Sunshine State now. I promise. 
> 
> brain: "crosses arms over chest*
> 
> me: I promise. Right now. I just - *clicks post on new WIP* There. See? I did it and now - right back on task. 
> 
> brain: you know this is why you worry you're crazy. You know that. Right? You know that?
> 
> me: yes. this is why I think I'm crazy. *mutters an eye roll* _God._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> secrets and ghosts don't only live on Earth...Rey's Beautiful City may have odd cracks

 

  
Act I 

  
*****

  
  
The water tasted different.

Rey couldn’t get used to it.

 

Things on Venus were requiring a frustrating length of time to readjust to since returning from Earth. Rey held her goblet to catch the light and peered inside the crystal.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh -” Rey lowered the glass and took a sip. _Bitter?_   “Nothing. It tastes...different.”

Phasma raised a brow, lowering her embroidery to her lap with a frown. “Different?”

Rey picked up her holopad as the droid spirited away her goblet on a silver tray. “Oh, I dunno,” she sighed, flicking through the screens aimlessly.

“Maybe not different.” She shrugged while Phasma waited, dropping the pad to the chaise as she stood and walked listlessly, bored. “It’s taking longer to get used to to being back home than I imagined.”

 

Phasma picked up her cross-stitch again and said nothing. Her needle stabbed the fabric repeatedly as she laced the scene with color.

“It’s been a month.” Phasma glanced at Rey before looking back down at her delicate project. “Haven’t you gotten used to being back yet?”

“I guess.” She sighed heavily again, hand trailing the tufted couch Phasma sat on as she watched the clouds swirl beyond the tall glass walls of the castle.

 

There were pink and gold backlit clouds on Earth.

They floated across the evening sky lazily until the grey night swallowed them whole, only to fling them back across the sky at dawn. On Rey’s final morning in New York she’d stood on her suite’s balcony and watched as black night burned into bright morning, and the clouds woke with the world.

 

The expanse of splashing waves beyond the harbor, the waking city below made Rey smile.

Something inside her had echoed.

Someone.

 

_Alpha._

 

Maybe it was because Earth was the cautionary tale of her elders, birthplace of humanity, the Mecca for royal Venusians. Maybe it was because beyond the ocean she knew there were three other continents, the one other city, secrets and ghosts beyond her reach.

  


Rey watched the ceaselessly billowing cotton, pale and silent spill beneath the castle and blinked herself back into reality with a sigh.

No noises echoed through the thick walls of Rey’s glass-encased palace. No seabreeze lifted her tendrils, no scent spiked through her awareness.   
The Beautiful Palace, the City of Grace, all of Ishtar Terra lay silent. Only the peril of toxic mist lay beyond the dome.

Phasma clicked her tongue in annoyance as Rey sighed again.

“For God’s sake, Your Beauty.” Rey turned to Phasma where her governess sat shaking her head. “Don’t sigh.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Everything on Venus is at your disposal. Why don’t you find some way to distract yourself? Go to training. Or to the market. Or find Briar. God knows she’s always ready to get into trouble with you.” She trailed off at the end, barely veiling her opinion.

“I suppose.” She slumped beside Phasma, chin landing on the couch’s padded arm. Phasma met her eyes with exasperation.

“What’s wrong, Rey? Hmm? You’ve been restless for weeks.”

Rey pulled at a thread on the cushion between them. Her heavy crown slipped and she absently reached to push it further atop her head.

“Are you tired? Need a nap?”

“I’m not tired.” Rey stood with a huff of frustration and circled the huge room once.

“Well, what is it?”

“I’m - I’m…”

“Are you nervous about the coronation? All those fittings with the droids and meetings with the Council may have worn you out. Come here, let me see if you have bags under your eyes.”

“No. Phasma, I’m not tired.”

“It’s a lot to take on. I remember when they first decided what my role would be in preparing you for the crown. It was a lot even for me. Maybe you need a nap.”

“I’m not tired!”

“You’re probably hungry. You need something to eat, maybe. Let’s have a droid bring tea and biscuits. You love tea.” She lifted her hand and pressed a buzzer as Rey growled in irritation.

“Phasma, that’s not it!”

 

If she were younger, she’d have stomped her foot. A childhood spent scrambling up stone stairs of the castle, running from nurses and governesses gave Rey plenty of time for tantrums, but she was nearly nineteen, and almost an Empress.

Her nostrils flared as she exhaled hard, but she resisted stomping her crystal-laced sandals.

 

Never impressed when the future queen lost her temper, Phasma lowered her needlework to her lap again and raised a single eyebrow.

“I’m sorry.” Rey sat gently beside her as her brow knit. “I don’t know what’s come over me lately. It’s like I’m stretched too thin. Like my feelings are just under my skin, and I can’t figure out how to...how to _feel_ less. Does that make any sense?”

Phasma swallowed and Rey studied her for clues or comfort as the governess’ head tilted.

“Do you know what I mean? Like - ever since I came back from Earth I’m...uncomfortable. Unsettled. Nothing feels right. Nothing sounds good. Almost...itchy in my own skin.”

Phasma’s eyes, which had been wandering shot back to Rey’s.

“What?” Rey asked, scooting closer to Phasma. “Do you know how that feels?”

“I - “ Phasma’s eyes darted to the door and back to Rey. “Have you...been purifying? The solar water - you’ve been seeing to it that you bathe? Daily?”

Rey’s brow furrowed.  “Of course. But - Phasma, are you listening to me? To what I’m saying?”

Phasma licked her lips as Rey watched her ice blue eyes. “I just think it’s important to know whether you have been participating in the ritual. Because it’s...essential.”

The confusion that twisted in Rey’s mind at Phasma’s words and expression was complete. Nothing about her difficult reentry to Venus should have been affected by a beautification process like the Venusian solar water bath Rey had taken twice a day since her childhood.

 

An alarm bell went off in her head.

_The water tasted different._

 

“Well, I know how important the solar water is, so yes. I adhere to it strictly. Of course.” Rey nodded slowly at Phasma while the blonde woman looked around once more and lowered her voice, moving imperceptibly closer to Rey.

“You know…” Phasma swallowed and moved closer still, knees nearly bumping Rey’s where they sat together on the settee. “I’ve never been to Earth.”

“Okay.” Rey studied her eyes as she waited.

“And I wasn’t born on Venus. Not like you. I don’t know if you knew that.” She lowered her voice further, “but, I’ve never been to Earth.”

Deepening confusion swirled through Rey’s thoughts. _Never been to Earth...and not born on Venus…_

“You - you’re - “ Rey’s eyes widened. She’d known Phasma fifteen years. What was she actually hearing right now?

“Yes,” Phasma whispered, ducking her head further. Her translucent eyes pierced Rey’s. “I was born on Mars.”

“Then. You’re  - “

Phasma nodded.

“Then how - “

“I take the Venusian solar water baths daily, too, Your Beauty. Without fail.”

Rey held her gaze, captivated as Phasma looked at her meaningfully.

_An Alpha. An Alpha woman._

 

“The solar water ritual. It’s essential,” Phasma said as she lowered her chin. Her steely gaze struck Rey to the marrow, and understanding broke across her mind. “To maintain balance in us, no matter who. What it contains is...essential.”

Phasma pulled her shoulders back and sat up straight, voice lifting and strengthening as she picked up her embroidery. “As long as you continue to bathe you should be fine, Your Beauty. The Queen and Council always take very good care of all the Venusian inhabitants.”

She couldn’t pull her eyes from Phasma’s face.

All these years - all the days and weeks she’d sat under Phasma’s tutelage being prepared for her reign and she’d never known her teacher’s designation. She lifted a hand to her forehead as it ached under her crown, overwhelmed by all the confounding new insinuations.

There was a secret buried in Phasma’s words. Something she wanted to grant Rey, but wasn’t permitted, but what? Rey turned it over in her head, trying to piece together how her alpha governess had gone undetected for fifteen years.

How it had anything to do with the Venusian solar water beautification ritual.

What any of it had to do with Rey’s complaints of irritability and discomfort.

 

Phasma picked up the needle and pierced the linen with purple thread, tugging as it wove through the fabric. Her gaze remained steady on her work even as Rey watched, willing her to come close again, tell her more things, but her hands dipped and pulled as she embroidered the delicate scene in her lap.

“You will be fine, my Beauty. Don’t worry.”

“But…” An argument bubbled, and she opened her mouth to speak, stopping instead when Phasma cut her off.

“At any rate, It won’t be long now until the coronation and then the tournament. And everything will change then, anyhow. You need only behave and wait it out.”

Rey watched her intently, hoping for more clues, more words, more anything, but Phasma sat threading color into her embroidered scene like it was her passion and Rey heard the clock in the corner chime the hour.

 

“It’s best to trust all of these details to others.”

 

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all, I can't thank you enough for your response to this. You are so patient with me - so good and kind and accepting. I am overwhelmed and so thankful.  
> xo  
> berry


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter...coronation with a special guest in attendance, one Rey can see and _smell_ , and we ramp **up**

 

 

 

*****

  
  


The diamond dust sprinkled inside the face cream jar glittered like stars tucked inside creamy clouds.

Rey tipped the jar and studied their shimmer. 

 

On Earth, Rose had shown Rey stacks of books on the War. They’d pored over tomes about the Split, about government and designations, liberation and treaties. She’d done her job as beta excellently, as completely as any scholar Truthkeeper.    
  
Once they were actually friends though, their studies had expanded. Ancient romance and traditional human love stories became something of a shared obsession.  They dove into piles of classic books, up to their ears in betrothals and swooning heroines.

 

Rey twisted the jar of cream to catch the light as she sat looking at the diamond powder. 

Once, diamonds were mined on the dark continent of Africa as engagement rings for brides.    
Once, there had been engagements.    
Once, there had been an Africa. 

She smoothed a thin sheen over her freckles and smacked a thick gloss over her lips. Eyes lined with vibrant lavender, and lashes darkened with kohl glaze, Rey stared into the mirror and watched as a droid handed Kaydel jeweled hair pins. 

 

“Training ends a bit early today, Your Beauty.” Nimble fingers wove a thin braid around Rey’s crown and pinned a stray tendril. “Just in case you forget. Coronation preparations are underway in the Hall.” 

Kaydel cocked her head as she stepped back, surveying her work. The droids laid a silver organza gown trimmed with platinum thread on the bed as Rey stepped out of her silk robe, waiting as four sets of hands laced her gown. 

One day, she’d be a bride, too, allowed a color more vibrant than white, cream or silver. 

“Good. Perfect.” Kaydel tugged Rey’s sleeve, twisting a hem as she critiqued the ensemble. “Flawless,” she beamed at Rey. 

The droids laced Rey’s crystal sandals while she listened to Kaydel run through her schedule.  One day, Rey would wear bright coral and shocking lime. She’d cut her waist-length hair and grow fat on thickly frosted rose cake and chilled lintenbutter tarts.

“And don’t forget about training ending early.” 

“I won’t.” 

 

Kaydel corrected the curl at Rey’s shoulder while a droid straightened the white wings at her back. With a final light touch, the crystal crown sat on Rey’s head correctly, and everyone stepped away as she headed for the door. 

“Try not to step on the train this time, Your Beauty! D’Acy will have a fit!” 

Kaydel’s words trailed behind Rey like gauze as she glided down a stone staircase towards the lift. 

  
  


*****

  
  


Rey watched the panel light rhythmically as she journeyed to the throne room. Leia was busier than ever as the palace prepared for her coronation, but this was important. Too important. 

She’d been holding Phasma’s story closely for at least a day. Any longer, and she’d embarrass the crown with an outburst. 

 

“Your Beauty.”

“Your Beauty.” 

 

Omegas at court bowed their heads as she passed, floating in a silver chiffon mist.  She only stopped to grab Briar’s hand when she caught sight of the young omega at the entrance to the throne room. 

She tugged her best friend aside and they dipped their heads towards one another as Rey whispered. 

“What’re you doing? I thought you had training?” Briar hissed.

“I do. I’ve got to see Leia. It’s important. Did you - “ Rey’s head swiveled as she looked around. She wasn’t sure why she was nervous to be overheard, but something in her spirit made her duck her head and lower her voice further. “Did you know Phasma’s an alpha?”

Briar’s face screwed up with doubt. She pulled away slightly and looked at Rey as if she’d grown three heads. 

“I’m serious.” Rey tugged her hands so Briar bent at the waist. “She told me!” 

“She told you she’s an alpha.”

“Yes.” 

“A woman alpha. Rey, you sound loco.” 

“I’m not loco, Briar.” 

Her friend’s deep, brown eyes and lustrous, chestnut ponytail tumbled in long waves over her shoulder as she narrowed her eyes, arms folding over her chest. “Loco.”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I’m telling you the truth! She told me.” 

“So, you mean to tell me your governess said, ‘Rey, as future queen of Venus it’s just really important to me you know I am an alpha woman and I have no good reason to be on a planet inhabited by omegas.’” Briar shook her head with a smile. 

“I mean...not exactly. But, yes. Mostly. Okay, well, maybe only a bit, but it was heavily insinuated.” 

It was Briar’s turn to roll her eyes, turning to Rey as she walked to the throne room’s heavy double doors. A basket of hot house orchids, overflowing with blooms swung from Briar’s forearm as she gathered her voluminous, rose-hued skirt. 

“Here.” Briar handed Rey a flower and pulled open a door for her, waiting to go on her way until Rey stepped inside. 

“I swear it, B. Phasma’s an alpha.”

“Okay, R. Whatever you say. Maybe you picked up something on that dead world, after all.” 

“Ugh.” Rey groaned. 

“Maybe next time you could pick up more than a weird habit of imagining things and bring me and you back a couple of alpha brothers.” 

Rey smiled at her friend’s gleaming eye as they shared a giggle. Her thoughts flew back to the alpha pack of men she’d seen on earth.

 

Spiced forest - dark waves and black eyes - dusky nightfall, sweeping chills...Rey bit her lip as the memory of the alpha rolled through her. Her soft gland hummed with need.  

“Maybe I will.” 

 

Rey stepped inside and the door closed as Briar flounced away. 

The light joy of Briar’s teasing burned off as Rey approached Leia, whose wrinkled brow eased when she saw Rey. A Council meeting like this was enough to bore Rey to tears. 

“My Beauty!” Leia held out a hand and Rey took it. Leia tucked her into the crook of her arm. “Will you excuse us?” she asked the Council, already descending the steps to the marble floor. 

Amilyn rang a small chime to get attention, taking over at Leia’s absence. Rey strode with her to the tall, cedar door. “Let’s take a walk,” Leia said conspiratorially. “I’m sick of sitting.” 

Endless glossy corridors lined the city and Rey smiled at every omega they passed. The cool, glass windows of the dome shielded them from the tumbling sulfuric cloudfalls as they descended four sets of stairs while Rey told Leia about Phasma. 

 

“I know.” Leia depressed a wall panel button and Rey gaped at her. 

“You know?”

Leia nodded. “Of course, my dear. It’s my duty to know. Just as it is yours.” 

Rey swallowed and stepped inside the lift as the doors closed behind them. “But, how? Who else knows? Why is she here - is it my fault? Somehow? Because I needed a governess...but, why would I have needed an alpha governess, that doesn’t make any sense, I mean how - “ 

Leia smiled and held up a finger. “Let me show you something.” 

The lift doors slid open to a floor of the city Rey didn’t recognize. 

Leia dropped a key into a pocket inside her cerulean velvet gown and swept into the corridor. The same polished, tiled floors met her sandals when Rey took a step, but a noisy humming surrounded them as the elevator doors closed behind them. Machinery purred in rows as far as the eye could see. Huge, silver structures and wide, polished pillars lifted the ceiling in every direction.

“This is the machine of Venus, my dear - as you can see.” Leia held out a hand as Rey turned a slow circle. “The systems we use to keep our air breathable and our lives livable on Venus. The guts of the operation.” 

Instrument panels blinked and metal rattled. Rey jumped slightly when a nervous young man in a navy vest bumped into her. She turned on her heel in shock. 

 

“Finn Freeman,” he said, bowing at the waist. “Good to meet you, Your Beauty.” 

“Nice to meet you. Please, call me Rey.” She shook his hand and he smiled with an exhale, all relief and blazing warmth in his gaze. 

“This is where we produce solar water, Rey,” Leia said as she walked slowly between the machinery. Finn trailed them, checking boxes on a clipboard and scribbling notes in the margins as he checked the whirring computers. “Finn here’s part of the team that keeps our city alive.” 

“Amazing.” She turned each direction, watching as several people hurried between silver machines, twisting knobs and turning dials. “This is incredible.” 

Finn’s smile tugged sideways across his face and he rolled his eyes at the compliment. Rey felt her cheeks lift with amusement at his humble, kind nature.  “S’just my job,” he murmured with a shrug. 

“I’m sorry,” Rey said, bringing a hand to her head. The ache which she was getting accustomed to had returned, and it was all so noisy. “What does this have to do with Phasma?”

“The solar water allows people like Phasma to live here on Venus.”

“But how - “

“We enhance the solar water with many nourishing additives here on Venus. To counteract the sun’s radiance, build up immunity against disease, even keep our teeth bright and our hair shiny. Enhancements help someone like Phasma who is here for...let’s call is safekeeping.” 

“Safekeeping. Because she wasn’t...safe? On Mars?”

Leia paused and Rey watched her. If Mars wasn’t safe for Phasma, was it safe for any woman? Was it safe for a tournament delegation to arrive on Venus?

 

“People - and there aren’t many, but some people have chosen to leave their planets and come to Venus. Our solar water has allowed them to do so without incident almost since we began inhabiting the planet some sixty years ago.”

“They have? Who? Who else? How?”

Leia nodded at Finn. The machines hummed as he lowered his pencil and stared at Rey’s wide eyes. 

“You’re from Mars?”

“No,” he chuckled. “I was born on Earth. Never been to Mars, no desire to go.” 

“On Earth. So, you’re…”

“A beta. Yep.” 

Rey shook her head lightly, stunned. “And you live here on Venus...but, why?”

“I loved Earth, but I wanted out. I applied for an exemption and here I am.” He smiled brightly, shrugging his shoulders. 

The noise of the machines made her head throb. Rey couldn’t imagine wanting to leave a planet with breathable air. She pictured the grey harbor water, the way the sun shone on the buildings of New York, the deafening thrill of Niagara and her brow furrowed, trying to imagine anyone leaving. 

 

Leia squeezed a soft, gold pellet into a huge tank, nectar like honey spilling into the water as it swirled. 

“Everyone we have here who has needed an exemption has been granted one, in order to create safety for all and security for the solar system. You know now, Rey - since you’ve been to Earth and learned the Truth - how critical it is for balance and order to be maintained. How necessary it is to any take measures available to make certain the treaty holds and peace is maintained.” 

She looked at Rey pointedly, rubbing the liquid from her hands as she dropped the gold shell into the water. 

“Of course,” Rey said, following Leia to the lift’s doors as she drew a key from her pocket. She smiled warily at Finn as he nodded towards Rey and slipped into a row of machinery and she walked with Leia onto the lift.

 

The worlds needed a good and welcoming queen and Leia had provided. Rey’s heart warmed at the thought. If only she could be as generous and gracious a hostess as her predecessor, as philanthropic and magnanimous. 

“People need protection, Rey. Always remember that. Protection at any cost. As Queen and Empress, you’ll need to remember that foremost during your rule.”

 

Rey nodded as the lift ascended. Rising from the lower levels, emerging through the clouds as they rose higher and higher, Rey listened as Leia raised her eyebrows and looked at Rey from beneath her crown. 

 

“People must be protected at all times. Even from themselves.”

  
  
  


*****

  
  


Since 2000 BC, it had been called the  star of judgement for the fate of the dead.

It made sense to fight here. 

 

Sweat dripped down his chest, darkening the pale rust dirt under his dusty sandals to blood red. Heaving for breath behind his black mask, his damp palm curled tighter around the hilt of his sword as he stared across the practice arena. 

_ Attack. Elude. Protect. Unleash.  _

Instincts struggled for dominance as his eyes darted around. His master’s patience grew thin, shifting impatiently on his throne, oblivious to his champion’s battling thoughts. 

Kylo’s growl erupted as he watched the pleading face in front of him. 

 

The training droids he had fought had prepared him for this, and his knights provided adequate challenge all these years. He’d always appreciated their submission and defeat.  
  


The sword weighed his hand down. The face opposite him crumbled in pleas. Unarmed, old and sad behind a transparent mask, the man’s solemn gaze begged Kylo, but not for his life. 

“It’s not too late.”

 

_ No. Yes.  No. Yes.  _

The conflict in his head outweighed any fight he could have been forced to endure in this arena. He was used to bleeding, used to hurting and winning in a fight. Kylo had earned his right to be champion only that day, securing a seat on the tournament delegation transport when he bested Poe in the battle of his life, but that - fighting his fellow alpha, his knight and brother-in-arms - was nothing compared to this. 

 

His master watched from the balcony, hawkeyed and silent. 

 

“Will you help me?”

 

“Anything.” 

 

The machete glinted in the Martian sunlight as a thick haze of floating pink minerals swirled around them. Kylo inhaled, straining behind the black mask as his chest inflated in his sweat-drenched red toga, and he watched the old man’s eyes as his life faded. 

The sticky ground under his sandals clung to the leather as he dragged the sword from the man’s chest. A bloody circumference grew as the life ebbed away. Kylo gripped the hilt as the tip dragged a dull line through the red dirt.

 

This was his fate, after all. 

Forgotten child from a dead world.

 

This star was a judgement he more than deserved. 

  
  


*****

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you readers putting in the time to build this world with me? letting me build a playground? Blow me away, bless me to little, itty bits and make me wanna scream I LOVE YOUUU into the internet.   
> I love you and thank you. 
> 
> come. 
> 
> let's get into some trouble together.   
> we'll ask forgiveness later
> 
> xo


	4. Chapter 4

 

*****

 

Sunlight blazed through the glass dome at the edge of the Grand Hall, a bright beam that pierced the jewel at the apex of Rey’s crown.

Illuminated in refracted light, prisms burst around her throne. Rey concentrated on sitting tall. A royal halo radiated around her diamond throne in unbroken light. 

Slouching under the weight of the five-pound coronation crown was tempting, but Rey had been lectured at rehearsals. The light would skew and the effect would short out. She pulled her shoulders back and rolled her neck imperceptibly.

 

For a coronation ceremony only completed once before, it sure was carrying on a long time. Pomp and ceremony droned on, and Rey’s thoughts wandered. The nervous energy she’d woken with, propelling her through bathing and dressing, waiting and finally proceeding through the Grand Hall had burned down to a vague awareness of the need for her silence and regal submission.

 

Every detail of her coronation as Omega Queen and Venusian Empress had been dictated and detailed by the Council for weeks. Rey had only to show up, stand tall, sit up straight, and remember her lines.

Her responsibilities crystalized to her basic existence.

The way her fingers laced in her lap, gently laid atop her gold-crusted dress had been perfected as D’Acy arranged her hands just so during rehearsals. The unfurled angel wings at her back and diamond choker at her throat, even the silver stars on her lids and cheeks and pale shimmer on her lips were tended to by her ladies who sat nearby, raptly watching the coronation.

 

Rey stole a look to her right, glancing at Leia without moving her head. Leia nodded slowly as Mon Mothma and the Council droned on, reciting proverbs about equality and faith, lovingkindness and protection. Her steady gaze on Mon Mothma, steely and warm under her own Queen Regent’s crown was constant.

Leia had reigned over Venus with heart and guts for decades, and Rey was relieved she would continue in her role as regent and advisor while Rey took the throne.

 

“I’ll always be here for you, my beauty,” Leia had said when Rey was overwhelmed during preparations. Her kind eyes crinkled as she wiped a frustrated tear from Rey’s glowing cheek. “Where would I go, hmm? Just because I’m no longer reigning queen doesn’t mean I’m about to hop a transport and make for the nearest moon.”

She’d giggled with Rey as they walked through the Beautiful Palace, and Rey kissed her cheek before stepping into the training room.

 

It was a comfort knowing Leia would be at Rey’s right hand, especially as coronation bore down on them, and preparations had churned in earnest. Rey looked out at the Hall and Briar caught her eye on the front row, sending Rey a covert wink.

Rey’s lips tucked in on themselves as she smothered a grin at her best friend, and she lifted her chin barely, centering her attention on Mon Mothma, who was still speaking.

 

“Is Your Beauty willing to take the Oath?”

Rey swallowed and cleared her throat, meeting Mon Mothma’s eyes steadily. “I am willing.”

The woman’s eyes sparkled as she announced Rey’s charges loudly, and the room reverberated with their importance. “Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the planet of Venus according to law and custom?”

Rey spoke clearly and succinctly, remembering her lines. “I solemnly promise so to do.”

“Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgements?” Mon Mothma continued, “And will you, to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of The Treaty of the Solar System of the Milky Way?”

“I will.”

“And as by law established on Venus, will you promise to take consort from Mars, Hero of the Knights, and to uphold the System of Equality and preserve the Lineage of the Designations, with rights and privileges dictated by law?”

“All this I promise to do.”

Mon Mothma turned to the audience gathered, thousands listening and watching in endless rows of wordless attention. “Bring in the Martian Alpha Delegation.”

Rey breathed a sigh of relief her eyes followed Mon Mothma’s to the balcony. The huge, cedar doors unbarred and swung open and every Omega turned in unison. Chiffon and taffeta slid against one another, a symphony of elegant fabrics and tinkling jewels chiming as a nation’s worth of women shifted in their seats to witness the foreign challenge delegation’s entrance to the coronation.

 

Whether every Omega held her breath or just Rey, she had no idea, but she was dizzy in a heartbeat as Alpha pheromones flooded the Hall before they even appeared.

Heavy footfalls and reverberating marching punctuated the silence of the Hall.

 

“Halt.” A solid voice, bronze and assertive rang like a gong and the march ended. “May we enter the Grand Hall and witness the coronation of the Empress, Ruler of Venus, The Great Beauty?” His voice bore a hole through Rey. It speared inside her skin, striking into the organ beating in her chest as she felt her limbs liquify and her face flush. Her palms broke into a sweat and she rubbed them on her embroidered skirt before gripping the armrests of her translucent  throne.

 

“She is the ruler of Omegas, goddesses of love and beauty. Omega Divine. The Flawless One,” came the answer of the Omega guarding the door.

“So may we kneel and pay homage to her Beautiful Divinity.”

 

Rey couldn’t see them. No one could. The Alphas’ march began and they took their place in the balcony inside the screened box. Their faces were hidden behind black masks, red togas wrapped around their burnished, chiseled physiques. They strode as one pack and stood towering over the Hall, sheathed machetes hanging at their hips and shining pectorals glistening beneath silver-plated shoulder armor.

The concentrated wave of Alpha scents cascaded into the Hall and several Omegas swooned. Hands flying to their foreheads and murmured gasps wafting through the crowd, it was clear the seated Omegas present were affected.

Rey’s eyes landed on the tallest Alpha, centered among the men. Melted chocolate, spiced liquor, wet forest.

 

_Alpha._

 

Rey inhaled deeply and held her breath, locking the scent inside her lungs as she peered at the tallest Alpha. Through the mesh, through the mask - was it how all Alphas smelled or was this what she was always meant to find...was it possible...was it…

Long, dark hair spilled to his muscles behind his mask, and he stood immobile between his fellow delegation members.

Tomorrow they would fight as brothers, compatriots sporting to win the hand of the Empress, and Rey would see the face of her consort.

Her eyes strained as she worked to make out his face, the color of his eyes behind the mask, and the scent of Alpha wrapped around her like a robe where she sat enthroned.

 

“I here present unto you Rey, Empress of Venus,” Mon Mothma announced as she turned to face Rey. Their eyes met and the Council Head continued.  “Your undoubted Queen and Flawless One, Goddess Divine, Ruler of Omegas. Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?”

She was accustomed to the sweet lilt of feminine voices. Baritone-laced conviction reverberated from the balcony as the Hall answered. “Rey, Empress of Venus.”

Mon Mothma approached the throne and slipped the golden bracelets of wisdom and love on her wrists, and bowed her forehead to Rey’s hand. When she stood, she pulled Rey to standing, and the halo disappeared, wings stretching behind her as Rey rose.

Every eye was trained on her, every human mouth hushed. Her eyes slid to the balcony as she took another deep breath, Alpha spice coursing through her heart and down her throat as she felt Leia step beside her.

“Her royal beauty, Rey, Empress of Venus. Beauty Divine, Ruler of Omegas.”

Only Briar met her eyes as everyone bowed their heads, and every Alpha in the balcony box bent their knee. Rey’s lips quirked into a smile at her friend before her eyes widened and she motioned for Briar to stop distracting her, and Mon Mothma took her hand, leading her down the stairs.

Ancient melody strummed through the Grand Hall as violins and harps accompanied the tune. A relic from a dead world. Dueling sopranos rang through the Hall as Rey walked solemnly down the carpeted path on petals strewn from hothouse orchids, crushed under her crystal-laced sandals. The aria floated around her, echoing as she passed, and she risked a last glance to the balcony before leaving the Hall. She breathed in the familiarity of the recycled Venusian air and exhaled her stress in a huff as she leaned against the wall.

The strains of the Flower Duet resounding inside the Hall were muted outside the massive, wooden doors. Rey grinned at Leia and Mon Mothma, and hugged them tightly as they each embraced her.

Leia cocked her head affectionately. “My girl.”

“My queen,” Mon Mothma said with a smile.

Rey beamed and bit her lip. It was so much better now that it was over. The music rushed through the door as Omegas poured out, hurrying to curtsy and kiss, hug and congratulate their new queen. Briar crushed the angel wings at her back and blinked back sparkling tears. “Congratulations, R! I knew you could do it!”

“Love you so much,” Rey whispered.

Briar sent her a smile with a kiss to Rey’s cheek before she was whisked off, making room for the next Omega well-wisher. The line dwindled, and Mon Mothma approached her while Leia and the Council moved to a viewing box to be seated, before the Alpha delegation was released from the balcony. 

 

Their marching approach made Rey’s heart speed up, and she drew a deep breath as Alpha scent descended from the stairwell and dispersed in the air like a fine, intoxicating mist.

Leia nodded at an Omega in the corner who pushed a button on the panel and a sheet of solar water fell. A sheer canopy, it veiled Rey as she took one, tiny step back on instinct. Behind the water falling from the ceiling she was alone, and the Council and Leia looked on as they allowed the Alpha delegation to approach.

This was who they would fight for tomorrow, but there was no need to subject Rey to an assault of undiluted Alpha pheromones. The hand of fate needn’t be tempted more than was necessary to give the Alphas something to pique their interest, an eye full of the Flawless One, but no more.

Shackled and one at a time, the masked Alphas approached. Chests heaved behind blood red togas swept over their muscled chests and thighs, glittering swords bounced heavily at their sides as they strode towards her.

Heads drenched wet with solar water, they each walked through the sheet of falling water. The Alphas bowed a knee and dropped their eyes, wet heads hanging as they murmured their greetings from behind black masks. Rey watched as each Alpha, every one larger and more overwhelming than the one before took a turn greeting her.

She held her head high and nodded silently as she watched their processional. When he walked through the water, chin high and hand tight around the hilt at the sword at his side, she knew it was him.

Water dripped off his black mask, rivulets pouring down his broad shoulders and off the curling ends of his thick, black hair around his throat. His red toga deepened to maroon as he stood in the water, unflinching, and when he neared Rey it was as if the solar water had enhanced his scent, instead of diluting it, she was so enraptured.

He stood as her equal, eye to eye instead of lowering himself. The water fell at his back, a sheer curtain shielding them together.

When he took a knee, he reached for her hand and brought it to the mask where his lips were hidden, a semblance of a kiss. Rey’s fingers itched to run through his damp locks, weeping water onto his silver shoulder armor. She studied the curve of his back as he held her hand in his. He dwarfed her, even on his knees.

The Alpha in the mask lifted his face to hers and spoke to Rey, echoing inside her.

_“J'ai entendu ta voix au milieu des étoiles.”_

He rose and dropped her hand, holding fast to his sword, and Rey watched him leave, gone in a heartbeat.

*******

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rey's coronation recessional sung inside the Grand Hall, [ Duo des fleurs / Sous le dôme épais, "Flower Duet" from the opera Lakmé](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kij_hHB_hyY), first performed in Paris in 1883.
> 
> "J'ai entendu ta voix au milieu des étoiles." = _"I heard your voice across the stars."_ (special thanks to @luciefee for French translation)
> 
> Why does Ben speak French?  
> What is Rey training for?  
> WTF is Leia up to?  
> Is there anything hotter than a dripping wet Alpha male on his knees?  
> Will it really be a "brotherly, sporting fight" as Rey imagines once the Alphas are fighting for her hand as consort? 
> 
> Come back next weekend, and I'll spin more of this cray-cray tale for you.  
> I love your comments more than anything on Earth **OR** Venus!  
> xoxox  
> Berry


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> incredible moodboard by the amazing @msdes on AO3 & twitter, @sofondabooks on tumblr  
>  _Thank you, Des! ILY!_

 

  


Chapter 5

 

“Good morning, Your Beauty.”   
Phasma tied back the silk drapes. Pastel clouds backlit with sunlight tumbled by the dome outside her palace bedroom. Rey rubbed at her eyes and stretched into her satin pillowcases.

 

“Morning,” she muttered. Her legs still ached from dancing. It had been deep nightfall when she’d collapsed into bed after twirling and pirouetting with her subjects for hours the night before.

Rey rolled her head around her neck carefully, tugging at a tight pinch as she reached overhead. She may have overdone it.

Tulle and buttons, pearls and lace, all of Venus had celebrated the coronation of the Empress with glee and vigor. They’d nibbled on sugared rose and dreamsicle cakes, and drunk cherrymallow rum til midnight, licking whipped cream and spun lemonwisp from their lips as they laughed.

 

Briar’s cheeks had burned bright as berries under the twinkling lights above the gardens where they danced. Rey’s fingers had been twisted through hers for an hour when they landed exhausted onto a tufted couch, nestled among the green grass. Sighing and delighted, Rey had lounged beside her, sandals thrown askew in the grass as she popped a gilded pinkberry between her teeth and sipped on sweet mint wine, catching her breath.

The Venusians had danced and giggled recklessly at the ball with their queen, once the alphas had been secured inside the shatterproof transparisteel chamber.

They could all see one another, but touching was forbidden.

The alphas had rested casually inside the enclosure at the edge of the gardens, eating and drinking, though notably less enthusiastically. Rey’s eyes had landed on the tallest among them as her heart raced, winded and heaving as she watched him with parted lips.

His thighs were granite and iron, spread irreverently beneath his red toga and black robe slung around his frame. The red fabric around his waist was cinched with a leather holster, the long, heavy-looking sword at his side dangling loosely to the ground. If she listened closely, she might be able to hear his voice.

 

She strained as his broad chest rose with an inhale, and the knights around his chair leaned closer to listen.

In her head, his voice was gentle, as had been when he’d spoken to her in the Hall.

_“J'ai entendu ta voix au milieu des étoiles.”_

Rey had no idea what his words meant, and no one to ask. He may have learned the language in another Earth city, the one across the Atlantic Ocean.  She’d learned of another city, one with a grand tower and a dead language of romance, but it was meant mostly to educate Martian alphas.

 

Without seeing his eyes, or knowing their meaning, Rey’s heart had seized in her chest as he’d spoken. One word at a time had landed on the freshly tilled soil of her heart, and he’d pushed them inside deeply, planted securely before he’d even walked away.

She’d sat staring at his large hands, laid informally on the handle of his sword, and her throat throbbed. The heated, uncomfortable feeling that had crept through her body since her return from Earth pulsated through her limbs, and a cramp twisted inside her core.

 

_Alpha._

 

The unspoken plea had risen involuntarily inside her heart. He lifted his head, body stiffening and somewhere behind his mask, his gaze had met Rey’s. Wordlessly, she had fled, blushing and chastised herself as she dressed for bed. She was promised to the champion of the tournament.

Once the challenge was over, and Rey had met and claimed the champion as consort, the rest of the delegation would be assigned omega hostesses for the balance of their stay on Venus. As long as everything was judged compatible, and everyone was satisfied they whole nation would be pleased as punch.

Equivalent pairings made for balanced bloodlines, a natural check and balances system among future offspring. The system had worked thus far, overseen by the governments of the planets, and it meant in time Rey’s whole generation would evenly disperse the designations.

Protection above all, even from themselves.

Everyone would get a mate, and everything would be for the best. “All is not equal, but all is fair,” as Leia had said during Rey’s training on more than one occasion. They’d pair off, and everyone else would fall into place, no risk of duplicating the risk of Anakin’s destructivon, no occasion for mayhem at the hand of an alpha run amuck. Theoretically, the risk was diminished exponentially with every compatible match. When safety was maintained, and the treaty upheld, everyone was protected.

Everyone Rey knew adhered to the Venusian way of thinking, and her training prepared her to engage anyone who didn’t understand.

 

The tournament was scheduled to commence now that the coronation was complete. The alphas and omegas would evenly pair. 

First, Rey and her champion, and then everyone else.

 

This was no time for greed.

 

Rey schooled her thoughts and stilled her racing mind as she was dressed. Creamy ecru and platinum silks gathered in pleats bounced in cool layers around her legs when she walked. D’Acy tugged Rey’s long, intricate braid over one shoulder, and Kaydel reached to adjust her crown before she walked through the arena doors.

“Wait,” Kaydel said, holding up a rosy gloss to Rey’s lips, “pucker.” Rey rolled her eyes and held still, eyes lifted as Kaydel swept the shimmering brush over her mouth.

Eyebrows raised, she met Kaydel’s critical eye. “Done?”  
“Yes,” Kaydel sighed, “wait - .“ She reached to pluck a puff of lint and combed her fingers through the curl at the end of the queen’s long braid while Rey bit back a huff. “Okay. Now. Done,” she nodded.

 

It was too bright when the doors opened. Rows of jeweled omegas filled the stands of the arena, and the light glared audaciously at Rey as she lifted a hand to her eyes.

The nagging soreness lodged behind her temples flamed to life, throbbing insistently as she missed a step. Briar’s hand was on her elbow before she could tip over, and she shook the darkness from her vision as her gaze settled on her friend.

“You okay?” Briar asked quietly, once Rey focused on her eyes.

“Yes. Thanks, I just - must have been too much rum last night.” Briar snorted softly and tucked her arm inside Rey’s as they lifted their dresses, settling inside the royal box to watch the tournament ceremony.

“Tell me about it,” Briar whispered. The ladies at their feet fluffed and patted Rey’s train around her throne, and Briar kicked her sandals off underneath the chair. “That was one hell of a party, amiga.”

 

Under the glass dome, the sand floor of the arena shown like glass. Pale, Venusian dust carried up from the crust through the corridors of the Beautiful Palace to cover the ground. Trumpets sounded, and the Venusian flag was raised. Ecstatic scores of omega Venusian citizens applauded and cheered noisily as the Martian flag was carried into the arena.

Rey smiled as her subjects yelled and clapped, and she wondered if she could bring her hands to her ears without causing anyone alarm. It was so loud, so overwhelming, like the noise was every neon color of a cloudbow, dazzling her into a headache.

 

“Alright, my Beauty?” Leia sat down beside Rey and greeted her with a gracious smile, glancing at Briar over Rey’s shoulder as she adjusted her skirt with a mild huff. She made a small noise and flicked a wrist at her ladies, dismissing them as she settled into her seat. “You two staying out of trouble?”

Briar’s feigned innocence made Rey smother a grin. “We don’t know what you mean, Your Beauty.”

Leia sighed loudly, and Rey rolled her cheek between her teeth, stealing a glance at Briar. Briar winked at her cheekily, and Rey felt herself relax.

When the pains of formality weighed heaviest, she was always most dependent on her life-long best friend.

The massive doors at the opposite end of the arena climbed slowly, and the rowdy omega spectators watched excitedly.

 

A lone, masked alpha strode to the center of the round arena and the crowd hushed. Tall and blonde, carved from bronzed steel and sinew, he lifted a sword high, catching the sun overhead, facing the royal box.

“To Your Beauty, Empress of the Omegas, Rey of Venus, and to The Queen Regent, Leia of Venus, may I humbly offer from the sovereign planet of Mars, the alpha tournament delegation.” He swept into a low bow, bringing his sword to his holster, and continued.

“In accordance with the Treaty of the Designations, signed and ratified into law following the War and the Split on the dead world, Earth, here to fight to the last to maintain peace between the nations, and secure blood equality between the planets. As is custom to procure a balance, and to provide a mating of the designations, may I offer to you our finest alpha tournament champions, hewn and fashioned for your acceptance by His Highness, Highest Leader Snoke of the Alphas of Mars.”

His deep voice boomed through the stadium, and light shone brightly off his light, yellow hair, a fierce, burnished angel robed in ruby red. His impassive, black mask gleamed in the sun. He knelt briefly, and turned on his heel with a nod at the royal box, and marched briskly to the dark doorway of the arena.

 

“What does he mean, ‘fight to the last’?” Briar whispered as she leaned closer to Rey. Their eyes were glued to the dark doorway opposite the royal box, and Rey shrugged slightly.

Clouds billowed from beneath the dome as every omega silently bent towards the darkened door, waiting for movement or sound from the alphas. A trumpet sounded, followed by a rising tide of brass, and then a wave of primal shouts that made Rey’s skin prickle with worry.

 

When the marching began, there was no mistaking the storming of dozens of alphas moving towards the arena.

A swarm of red, like rapids of blood coursing from an artery flooded the battleground in seconds. Every inch of glassy Venusian sand disappeared under battling alphas. Rey’s breath caught in her throat as she witnessed the start of a battle, the likes of which she’d never seen.

The well-mannered squadron of alphas who had calmly attended her coronation, steeped in decorum and ceremony, devolved into chaos and primal screams of testosterone-fueled intensity on the battlefield.

Leia’s hands gripped the shared handrest, and Rey’s eyes flew to see her fingers white with strain, wrapped around the throne with shock.

Rows of stunned omegas sat, watching with gape-jawed wonder as the alphas’ swords met in a mighty clanging on the arena floor. Guttural, male shouts of power and agitation filtered up through the spectators’ seats.

 

Slowly, Rey noticed the faces of the spectators softened from surprise, to awe, and finally to hunger. Her brow furrowed.

This wasn’t the fraternity she was expecting, not the brotherhood and sportsmanship she anticipated when they had talked about the tournament. The alphas fighting in the arena screamed as they toppled one another to the sandy floor, disarming one another in a loud wave of aggression, throwing their heads back in a shout of victory as their brother lay panting, maybe bleeding on the ground.

Swords clattered as they fell. Medic droids buzzed stretchers onto the arena floor, scooping up the defeated alphas, zipping them beyond the battlefield quickly.

Images of the War on Earth washed through Rey’s mind, pages of the New York city library books filling her thoughts. This battle was not what she had expected. It was barbaric, vicious. It was -

“Is this,” Rey nodded, watching the alphas as they fought, cries ringing, “what you expected?”

She stole a peek at Leia, ashen beneath her regent’s crown.

“I never - I… I didn’t think…”

 

A black mask popped into view, and Rey jolted back in her seat, hand flying to her heart. A playful, sultry voice spoke, and a flower appeared, held by the alpha who perched at the edge of the viewing box.   
“Your Beauty,” the voice said, head cocked to the side as if he were casually suggesting a walk in the park, instead of interrupting the bloodsport filling the arena behind him.

 

Rey’s mouth dropped open. She grabbed the flower, and jumped when a thorn pierced her index finger, hissing as it dripped a drop of blood on her white skirt. The droplet spread in a cherry starburst into the delicate fabric.

 

“Dios mio,” Briar shuddered.

The alpha chuckled and winked at Briar, who stared at him, wide-eyed. He jumped down into the arena, landing on his feet like a cat, despite the distance he’d climbed to present Rey with the bloom.

The flower-bearing alpha dusted off his thighs and reached for his sword as the alpha Rey's eyes were drawn to roared his approach. The large machete arced behind his wide back, and he lunged for the man with a power that left Rey breathless. She dropped the flower to her lap, and gripped the arms of her throne. Leaning forward as a wave of masculinity rushed her senses, she froze as their swords met over their heads with a deep, indignant shout.

Her head spun, blood surging as she watched the battle, wide-eyed.

 

Dust flew as they parried, beating back one another’s blows with practiced steps and matched technique. The shorter man who had handed Rey the flower that lay forgotten in her lap, fought her alpha. His muscles flexed with furious energy.

The matches behind them dwindled as Rey crept forward eagerly in her seat.

“Oh my God,” Leia breathed.

Winner of the tournament was uncontested champion of the alphas, the dominant, Rey’s betrothed and future consort. Shock and hope collided in her chest. The other parties were finishing one another off, bodies spirited away from the battleground as soon as they fell wounded, alpha lives spared for the sake of their intended omegas.

 

The final fight Rey’s eyes fell on would decide not only the victor, but her mate.

She pushed the images of the last War from her mind.

This wasn’t like that - they weren’t here to murder one another, not to kill or maim, but to prove their worth. The omega queen, empress of the goddesses of Venus deserved the hero knight of the alphas, warrior and protector. He would win, but he must have integrity.

The Throne of Beauty would not be sullied by taking the hand of a bloody killer. Rey’s heart lurched in her chest as she zeroed in on the alpha as she inched forward.

 

His arms were slick with perspiration, pale and shimmering under the sunlight overhead. Thick legs struck the ground harder with his every stomp, chest expanding behind his sweaty toga. His long, damp hair swung around his mask as he moved.

Before she realized it had happened, the arena quieted. Only Rey’s alpha and his opponent fought, left alone on the field, final players on the stage.

Grunting moans punctuated the air. Rey’s thoughts cascaded with fear, and as a blade slipped and blood spit from his arm to the ground, she cried out. She didn’t even realize she was on her feet until Briar stood beside her, a hand grasped around Rey’s wrist.

Tears sprung to her eyes as the tall alpha faltered. She gasped aloud and reached for the ledge, gripping it tightly. The alpha reared back with renewed fervor, plunging his sword against his rival’s.

Blades crossed, mask-to-mask, their paired growling emanated through the arena with echoing power. The stronger alpha pushed back his challenger with a strength that made Rey’s hands clasp. She lifted onto her toes and Briar’s grip bit into her wrist.

The smaller alpha collapsed on the ground in a plume of Venusian dust, sweat dripping, his sword clanging to the ground with a loud moan. Rey’s alpha stalked him decidedly, the last player standing on an empty stage, and he raised his sword slowly, lining it with precision over the fallen man’s heart.

 

He raised his machete one inch at a time, and the light glinted off the blade. Leia gasped, and Briar’s grip on Rey’s hand intensified. Rey drew a breath as she wound her training around her like a regal cape.

She lowered her chin as the alpha raised his sword. With all her education and practice at her disposal, she pressed a suggestion - a sigh - a persuasive thought to his ear, as if she were standing at his side.

A secret meant just for him, just a word - one, little thought pressed to his mind, as she’d been trained.

 

_Alpha._

 

And he froze.

 

Slowly, his blade lowered. He shook his head lightly, and the sword dropped to the glassy sand.

“Master of the Knights of Ren, Hero of the Empress and Consort to the Queen of Venus, Champion of the Tournament of the Designations!” a voice announced, but Rey barely heard.

With sure steps, he approached the royal box, eyes fixed on Rey’s as she watched his approach. A smile crept across her lips as her breathing quickened. The alpha who lay on the ground was scooped up in an instant, rolled away by the droids, and in one movement the alpha - _Rey’s alpha_ \- brought a hand to his mask and tore it away.

 

_Mine._

It surged through her like a gust of wind. His nostrils flared and his chest expanded, breathing her in from across the space between them. No mask was needed to shield her pheromones from him anymore.

She didn’t fear him -  only what kept her from him one more moment.

The mask fell to the sand without a word, and his hands came to his sides as he stalked to her.   
  
Blood dripped down his wounded arm, and the flower fell to the floor as Rey grabbed a fistfull of her dress, shoving past the people around her. She rushed from the box and she heard Leia call her name. Down the single flight of stairs she flew, skirts bundled in her hands as she ran.

 

They were calling her, someone was calling her, but Rey couldn’t hear them.

 

He needed her - he was hurt, and her alpha needed her.   
She’d called his name, and he had heard her voice.   
  
She crossed the space, running from the darker corridor beneath the arena into the bright stadium. He was beautiful. Dark and handsome, weary and hopeful, his beautiful face held the same burdens, the same dreams as hers and she knew in a breath it was him.

 

From the steps of the city library, and the coronation where she watched him, seated behind the balcony screen, from the showering hall and the garden dance, from her dreams and her secret, unspoken wistfulness, he was hers.

Rey beamed as she ran to him, and he strode to her with purposeful steps as a loud voice, familiar to Rey thundered across the skies before she could feel his skin under her hands.

 

“No!” Leia shouted, “not him!”

Her strained voice echoed judgement from the royal box, panicked. Rey slowed, blinking at the alpha, bringing a hand to her eyes. Her feet slipped on the sands and she peered into the harsh glare.

 

“Not him!”

  


*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys, this week has spanked my ass. For all your grace, comments and messages I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Every one is a gift and a treasure. 
> 
> Why did Leia say no? And WTF??  
> What's Ben about to do now and whose ass needs kicking?  
> What happens when Rey can't get her paws on her man?  
> Can we hear him speak some more French?  
> How could this chapter end here?
> 
> NEXT CHAPTER = ALONE TIME for our Omega Empress and her tournament champion. Promise.  
> See you next Saturday!  
> xoxo  
> Berry


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> moodboard by the amazing @msdes

 

Chapter 6

 

“Wait! No! Wait - Leia! No, _wait!”_

The mechanized chariot sped towards her alpha and Rey screamed in panic. Her eyes flew between Leia, who disappeared from the balcony and the man who stood steps from her, frozen in place. His chest heaved with the exertion from battle and Rey grabbed her skirts and ran for him with outstretched hands.

_No!_

This was her alpha and she needed him! _He needed her!_ Blood dripped steadily down his arm from the puncture wound while he held her gaze.

Liquified darkness, his eyes swam with confusion and anguish. Rey clung to his shoulders, flying into his arms. She searched his face and the shouting crowd around them was drowned out by the deafening beating of her own heart. One hand landed at the filthy fabric wrapped around his chest.

She looked up at him, inhaling fully.

He filled up her senses, seeping into her nerve endings and spreading through her organs. He spread through her empty spaces and burrowed inside her, leaving no space - no vacancy - no room for anything but himself.

_Alpha._

_“Mon unique.”_ His dark voice was pained.

The sun shined on them in the domed arena, penetrating the light sky, and Rey could barely make out his features. He was bright as the sun, dizzying, and his eyes radiated warmth. Rey clutched at the sweat-drenched toga.  She was captivated, drinking him in, drowning in the face they’d kept from her, memorizing the way he looked at her. Her temples throbbed, and her heart beat painfully at her ribs.

Kathika and Nyx blocked the sun. The sky behind her alpha’s head darkened as the valkyries placed a hand on each of his arms. Spears at their backs and golden laurel wreaths in their hair, they eyed Rey intently as she shook off their suggestion to submit.

“I’m sorry, Your Beauty,” Kathika said, nodding at Rey. “You’re needed in the royal viewing box.”

“No - _no_ ,” Rey gritted. Her teeth ground against one another and she dug her nails into his biceps. Blood smeared as Rey dragged her eyes from her alpha’s to meet the women’s eyes. The two tall omega warriors towered at either side of him. “Let _go_ of him! Let _go_!”

Rey tugged their hands from his slick arms and her head pounded. It was so bright and he smelled so pure, so correct.

_I need him. He needs me._

Her head was a whirlwind and her thighs trembled. Pain coursed down her spine leaving tingles in their wake. Hot dust kicked up from under his leather sandals as they struggled to haul him away.

 

“I’m sorry, Your Beauty,” the valkyries said again, tugging her alpha from Rey’s grip.

“No! _Wait!_ Don’t! He’s mine!” Rey shouted as they drew him from her, “he’s _mine_!”  Her alpha struggled, twisting in the women’s arms. She choked back a sob when he grunted behind the mask. “He’s _mine_!”

His face, contorted in effort disappeared from view when Delia slid the discarded black mask over his face.

“No! Stop this! Stop! I - I _command_ you! Stop! He’s mine! My alpha! My consort! Stop! Now! I am your Empress! Stop this _immediately_!” Rey screamed, fists balled at her sides. The growls coming from behind his mask grew in volume as shackles were placed around his ankles, and Rey felt herself growing faint with the rising swell of horror. The omega valkyries crossed their spears across his chest in an _x,_ barring her from him _._

“ _Alpha_!”

Chains at his ankles and a mask over his face, the valkyries led him onto the chariot before it sped away. Rey looked up into the glaring light and shouted for Leia, peering up into the viewing box. Briar stood leaning over the balcony, mouth open in alarm as she met Rey’s eyes. The watching crowd in the stands roared their dismay.

The chariot zoomed across the glassy sand, and Rey ran a few steps as a wave of pain and weakness flooded her.

“I’ll find you! I’m coming!” she shouted over the echoing din of the arena.

Helpless, she watched the massive doors at the far end of the arena open, and her alpha disappeared. A chill of grief splashed through her heart, a river of despair swamping her bloodstream that mixed with the fury bubbling in her gut.

Turning with indignant rage, the Empress planted her crystal-laced sandals firmly on the translucent sand, head high and wings fanned. With each step towards the edge of the empty arena, bewilderment and sorrow crystallized into a torrential force of anger.

She stormed across the empty arena alone, rage intensifying with each step until she swung through the exit. A billowing silken train of righteous might floated behind her like the cloudfalls beyond the dome.

Rey snarled as she stamped through the hall, eyes wild with need. She crushed the pale silk skirt fluttering at her thigh to a knot in a dirty fist, tacky with the blood of her alpha, and headed for the throne room, for Leia, and for answers.

 

*****

 

“Not him, my Beauty. You have to trust me.”

Leia’s face was camouflaged in serenity. Every statement from her lips was a puzzle to Rey, and each sentence formed with different words amounted to the same sentiment. A tiny smile, sympathetic but firm was planted on her lips, and Rey wanted to tear her crown to the floor and scream.

“But why? _How?_ I felt him, Leia - he is mine. I know it - I _know_ \- “ A sob caught in her throat and Rey turned away.

“He is not the one for you. Believe me.”

Tears welled and Rey angrily wiped them with manicured hands. What was the point of the grandeur and ceremony? The treaty? The tournament? Was this all for nothing? How could Leia just sit there and blockade what Rey knew to be true in her heart? She drew a breath and lifted her eyes. Carved cherubim played golden harps, pastel rosettes at their shoulders as they gazed adorably at the throne room. Turning slowly, she met Leia’s steady gaze.

 _Shoulders back. Chin up, Your Beauty._ Phasma’s words echoed through her mind, and Rey cleared her throat, adjusting her posture.

 

“Leia. The treaty is clear. The champion is to be consort of the Empress upon coronation.”

“I know.”

“And the champion was taken from me - wounded and shackled, no less - before I had a chance to claim him.”

Leia nodded. “I know.”

“You stopped me. You - you called it off. Just as I was about to reach him you interrupted. Why, Leia? _Why?”_

She was leaning as she inquired, desperate for answers, but Leia only sighed deeply and furrowed her brow. Standing, she turned to face the dome. Clouds tumbled beyond the glass, the same uninterrupted cascade she had seen every moment of every day on Venus, and Rey bubbled with impatience.

“I had a mate, too.”

Rey gulped. This was not - “What?”

Leia nodded, eyes fixed on the rolling, acid clouds. “A mate. A man. Loved him like planets love the sun. Always came back to him like that.” She faced Rey and her smile faded. Her dark eyes swam with tears, and Rey stepped closer.

“He was my gravity. My center. I was always helpless to circle back to him.”

“I didn’t know.”

The solemnity in Leia’s eyes made Rey’s heart slow. She studied the older woman’s face, a beauty who had once had hair free of silver and eyes clear as daylight. The thought of Leia young and in love had never occured to Rey before, surrounded as they were by the business of running a planet and preparing the Venusian continents for the tournament delegation’s eventual arrival.

“So, you know?” Rey asked quietly. “This bond between an alpha and an omega, it’s unbreakable. It’s immutable, demanding. It’s - “

“He was a beta.”

Rey’s eyes flickered to Leia’s. The pride of immorality flashed in Leia’s dark eyes, and Rey’s eyebrows lifted.

“A beta?”

Leia nodded and exhaled, crossing her arms over her chest as she slumped into her regent’s throne. “It should never have happened. It wasn’t about our designations. But - “ she shrugged, “he was my world.”

Rey willed it all to make sense, trying to remember any hints she may have missed along the way. She steeled herself for the answer and watched as Leia’s face fell into a darkened grimace.

“Where is he?”

The answer rang through her head even before it was spoken aloud.

“Dead.”

Rey laid a hand on Leia’s arm. “I’m sorry, Your Beauty.”

A gentle smile crept over the elder woman’s face, and she patted Rey’s hand. “He knew the price that may be asked of him one day. And he paid it bravely.”

A beat passed, and the ghost of Leia’s mate evaporated as Rey waited.

 

“But, what does this have to do with my alpha? Why did you stop me?”

“I know what it is to love, Rey, and to need. I needed someone too, and now he’s gone. I know it can hurt, but sometimes it must be endured.”

“But, Leia. Why? How can it be necessary? How did you know?”

“That alpha,” Leia said firmly, “he is not who you think he is.”

Her graying eyebrows arched. The clenched chin Rey was accustomed to seeing when Leia had decided on something caught her eye, reminding her of the queen regent’s strength.

 

“What do you mean?”

“He is not the right alpha to be consort of the Venusian empress. I know it for a fact.”

“What? This is - how can you know? They’ve only just arrived! The tournament was held according to the treaty, you were there. You saw it. How can you say that?”

“He is not who you think he is.”

“What?!” Rey’s voice rose and she turned an irate circle, looking back at Leia as aggravation expanded inside her lungs. “What do you mean? You saw! He’s an alpha from Mars, and he won the tournament! My alpha! Meant for me. I felt it!”

_Mine!_

“Your role as empress is to protect the people and planet of Venus,” Leia said. “And my job is to protect you, even from yourself.”

Rey felt her eyes narrow as her face heated. She took a step closer to Leia who watched her move. “Excuse me?”

Leia cocked her head and raised her chin. “It’s my duty.”

“And why should I need to be protected from my alpha?” Arms folded over her chest, Rey pulled her shoulders high in indignation and her nostrils flared angrily.

“Because no matter what you think of the alpha who won the tournament today, I know he is not the right one for you to take as consort and mate. He’s not who you think he is, Rey.”

“He _is,_ and I’ll have him.” The strength of her own voice shocked her as it echoed in the throne room. Leia rose, eyes glittering and stared her down. Her stature was imposing no matter her height.

“He isn’t, and you _won’t._ ”

Rey glared at her heatedly.

“How do you know? How can you know who he is?”

“I know because he killed my mate.”

 

A stabbing pain settled in Rey’s breast and she took a step back. “No.”

“Yes.”

“But  - “

“He isn’t who you think he is, Rey.” Their eyes met. “And I have known him since birth.” Rey held her breath, shaking her head as she refused to believe he was a killer, unfit to take her hand.

“He’s my son.”

 

*****

 

As a little girl, Rey had run beside Briar through the halls of the Beautiful Castle.

Dressed in bleached, smocked gowns and strapped sandals, matching braids had slapped joyfully against their slim shoulders. They’d stifled their shrieking giggles when omega women eyed them with disapproval.

_Don’t run. Calm down. Move gently. Be lovely._

Suggestions emanated from powerful Venusians around them like wafting vapors. Persuasive hints meant to mold young omegas were pervasive in the air, constant as the churning cloudfalls they watched emerge from under the palace, predictable as their twice daily solar baths.

They’d sneak into the palace kitchen and scoop vanilla dandelion pudding from the tub with grubby hands, or steal chocolate petals from the counter before anyone saw them. Smudged with sweets and breathless, they’d race to their wing as jewel-laden ladies raised an eyebrow, and Briar would win every time.

There was no end to their game, and no reason to behave until Rey was chosen heir and everything changed.

_Open._

She hadn’t even meant to insist. It had barely been a passing wish. An errant thought.

One moment the door to the wing had been sealed tightly for curfew, and Rey and Briar stood panting on the wrong side as they returned from their late night kitchen raid. The next, a hand opened the door from the inside and Willow smiled kindly, welcoming them to their rooms. Rey had stared wide-eyed at Willow, and Briar tugged her inside with a jolt.

 

“How did that happen?” Briar had hissed as they lay whispering in the dark. Rey laid staring at the stars blinking methodically above their bed.

“I have no idea.”

Rey had never been able to remember if she’d suggested a thought before that incident in the hallway. By the next morning, she was swept into training and soon after dubbed heir to the crown. Hers was an especially potent gift, they said, a power granted to few omegas and even fewer gifted the ability to harness it.

Influence lay not merely in beauty or rare status, but in commanding protection. Persuasive suggestion, the hushed planting of a whispered idea was all the throne needed to maintain order, command attention, and maintain balance in the solar system.

 

Rey padded the halls to the cell block in bare feet. She knew the halls of the palace like the lines of her palms. The train of her gown was looped around her arm, and she crept through the halls of the quiet castle like a thief. Her hand trailed the stone walls as she walked, listening with parted lips. No disdainful omega adult would stop her late night raid tonight.

Her breath caught as his scent drifted around her, a spicy shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Rey stopped and closed her eyes, reaching to her toes as she breathed him in.

 

_Alpha. I’m coming._

In a few more steps, his scent was so heavy she pressed into it like the wind her ship had strained against to break Earth’s atmo.

Three valkyries stood guard at the wooden door, spears crossed over their chests as they watched the hall lazily. They weren’t expecting her, and Rey almost felt guilty suggesting the idea until she heard the jangle of his chains.

She leveled her gaze at the omega warriors. Drawing her training around her tightly, she funnelled the suggestion with a gusting force.

_Leave. Now._

Wordless, they fled as if called away by an emergency. Rey held her breath, head high and shoulders back as they breezed past her. Amazed and winded, she shot to the door and flung it open.

 

Thick transparisteel stood guard to the spacious room. Bare floors covered in rich rugs, furniture and wide windows pouring moonlight shone inside, but Rey’s eyes landed on the only thing that mattered.

  
_Alpha._

He was on his feet, striding to her before she could speak. With a flat palm, she pressed at the keypad, but nothing happened. The transparent wall stood between them, immobile and solid. Rey slammed her hand over the keypad again and again.

“What - why?”

Frustration roiled inside as she poked at the pad, shoving her desires at it. He was within her grasp - right there. Rey huffed and nudged the keys as they stubbornly refused her entrance until a cramp bloomed hot and demanding in her belly. She clutched at it, meeting her alpha’s eyes pleadingly.

Her palms pressed flat to the cool glass as her heart broke.

_So close._

His hands dwarfed hers when he lifted one to press against the glass. Lined up in perfect harmony, five fingers nearly touching his, almost close enough to curl against one another.

Rey stared at their hands.

Perfectly matched. Straining against the glass, Rey wondered if she only imagined the heat of him. His scent curved around her body and her stomach turned in on itself in a crest of aching pain.

 _“Que m'as-tu fait?”_ His deep voice pierced the transparisteel, and the rippling pain faded. Rey searched his soft, dark eyes, a velvet midnight sky. _“Es-tu une sirène cherchant à m'envoûter avec tes chants?”_

She watched as he lifted a finger and traced a pattern against the glass with one finger. A swooping line, angles, a tender slope. Rey was mesmerized. He traced the glass between them, outlining her face as she studied his features.

Lips, nose, eyes, throat - he was hers and a rippling need washed through her bones. Her breasts flattened at the glass as she pressed further.

 _“Es-tu une sorcière qui m'a envoûté avec tes enchantements?”_ His eyes lifted to hers as his finger traced from her lips to her throat, across the line of her collarbone. She gasped softly as his hungry gaze fell on her breasts pressed to the glass between them. With a furrowed brow he tugged at the plump bottom lip between his teeth as his finger traced the swell of her breasts adoringly. Long, dark hair fell over his forehead as he lowered his face and the crown of his head tapped at the glass, level with her chest.

Tipping her head back, she lowered her hands as if against his hair. As if she could thread through his wavy, dark locks and pull his face to hers. As if he were hers in every way already.

_“Tu es mienne. Ils peuvent toujours essayer de m'éloigner de toi, mais ta peau chante pour m'appeler.”_

His voice vibrated through the glass that held them apart, burning into her aching belly as her eyes slid closed.

“Your name,” she whispered. He raised his head and she met his eyes as he stood to full height. “Tell me your name.”

His hand met hers against the glass, the echo of a touch and her insides were lit with the licking flames of desire as he smiled. He bent and pressed a kiss to the glass against her fingers.

 

“Ben,” he said with a deep voice, in a tongue she understood. Relief swept through her in a tide of bliss. “I’m your servant, my precious Empress, my only love. I’m your alpha, and I’ve only begun to fight for you.”

 

*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Leia.  
> Or, as my bestie @NewerConstellations likes to call her, "Queen Cockblock." What is you doin,' baby?
> 
> This chapter was the most Unresolved Sexual Tension™ I could write.  
> Translations of the sexy ass French-speaking alpha man courtesy of the wonderful @luciefee: 
> 
> _"Mon unique."_ = My only, or my only love
> 
>  _"Que m'as-tu fait?"_ = What have you done to me?
> 
>  _"Es-tu une sirène cherchant à m'envoûter avec tes chants?”_ = Are you a siren singing a song to lure me in helplessly?
> 
>  _“Es-tu une sorcière qui m'a envoûté avec tes enchantements?”_ = Are you a sorceress casting spells to bewitch me?
> 
>  _“Tu es mienne. Ils peuvent toujours essayer de m'éloigner de toi, mais ta peau chante pour m'appeler.”_ = You are mine. They can try to keep you from me, but your skin sings for me.
> 
>  
> 
> **rawr**
> 
>  
> 
> See you next Saturday! Thank you so, so much for reading! Every comment is such an incredible gift. You really spoil me, and I am so thankful for each of you.  
> xo  
> Berry


	7. Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

  
  


Grey-pink light snuck through the drapes. 

Rey stretched, fingertips grazing the headboard, a satisfied smile creeping across her face. Morning mist floated beyond the curtains on Venus. Dusky cloudfalls tripped steadily by her windows. Footsteps and voices outside her door faded as she rolled over and smiled brightly into her pillows.    
She kicked her feet under the blankets and burrowed deeper. Satin gown bunched at her thighs, silky braid spilling over her shoulder, she grinned up at the slowly fading star clusters above her bed. Earth sparkled in the dusky sky as night rolled away. 

The night before flashed through her memories, a flip book of joy. Images of Ben seared into her heart flitted through her mind, and Rey bit her lip as she punched into a cottony pillow. 

 

Boundless, dark eyes. The line of his shoulder, ripe as a plum. The rise and fall of his broad chest under garnet-red velvet. The curl of black hair behind his smooth neck.    
Rey had ached to touch him. 

The transparisteel wall between them offered no give, not an inch. No matter how many times Rey had gathered her training around herself, twisting the strands into a concentrated beam of energy demanding the panel break, melt, evaporate -  _ anything _ \- the wall remained impervious. 

“It doesn’t matter,” he’d said when she looked to him with a devastated glance. “They won’t keep you from me.” 

When she’d slid to the ground, a palm cemented to the wall between them as he followed her, she sighed in agreement. The time for venting frustration would come. She’d find out why a part of her kingdom, her palace home was invulnerable to her demands. Why the omega valkyries had disobeyed her direct order. Why the alpha who had won her hand was transported in chains to a cell instead of her bed. 

He was in front of her, just beyond her reach, and he took up her whole awareness, swallowed her whole. His broad frame consumed her vision as much as his scent spooled around her like a ribbon and his presence filled her like a feast. 

“Tell me everything. I have so many questions. This isn’t - it didn’t go the way I expected and I’m so confused…” 

The edges of his full lips lifted. His eyes were compassionate, tenderness spiraling around them despite the glass wall that separated them. Rey drew her knees to herself, curling closer to the cool glass, leaning towards her alpha. One elbow rested on his raised knee, a shoulder leaning against the wall just beyond Rey’s touch. Their fingers reached for one another even as they spoke. 

“I’m confused, too. Frustrated.” He glanced around at the corners of his cell and back to Rey. “But, I have my suspicions as to why they want us apart.”

“Why? Why would they? Is Leia truly your mother?” 

“That’s what I’ve been told.” Sadness filtered into his eyes, but his tone remained steady, his back erect, shoulders unbowed. 

“Alpha…” Rey crooned.

“I was just a boy when she sent me away. A baby, really. I - I barely remember her.”

Rey met his eyes and her heart rolled inside her chest. She clucked her tongue, fingers splayed on the glass between them straining for him. The anguish of being without a mother was familiar to her, after all, and Rey wondered who had tucked him into bed as a little boy. Comforted him when he was sick. Kissed his knees when he had fallen. 

 

“When you presented?” 

He nodded. Dark locks fell over his forehead and his head dipped. Rey watched dark lashes flutter over pale, carved cheeks. “I was as typical alpha boy. All rough and tumble,” he grinned, meeting Rey’s eyes. “I toddled through the halls of this palace as a baby. Took my first steps in the throne room, they said.” 

“I never knew. They never told me.” Rey searched his face, sorting through the reality they’d been children in the same palace, separated by years. Wistfulness coursed as she realized she’d lived beside his ghost inside the castle her whole life, never knowing her alpha had walked the same halls. 

“I’m not surprised. I was their secret shame. The one they had to dispatch before my alphaness upended the precious sanctity of Venus.” 

The bitterness in his voice was a dangerously sharp edge. 

Rey swallowed. Shame and self-contempt churned hot in her belly. Heat swooped through her as she curled over her belly and breathed through a cramp. This was not a man to banish. This was a champion of his designation, hero of his people. He was the winner of her hand, and the dream of her heart. 

Venus had kept him from Rey since his victory inside the arena. Looking at the cell behind him, comfortable though it appeared with its woven rugs and wooden bedframe, cheery starlight sparkling through the window, Rey could begin to believe his story easily. He had been evicted from his home as a little boy. 

This strong and beautiful man, winner of the contest and desire of the Empress was dragged away in chains and kept from her in the bowels of her own palace. It made only too much sense when he revealed a decided lack of surprise at his treatment by a planet who had sent him away once before. 

The appearances of lovely accommodations could only camouflage the reality of his imprisonment to an extent. 

What looked like a charming dwelling was a cleverly-disguised prison. 

 

“How could she?” Rey had whispered. Tears welled and she leaned closer to the glass. 

“I didn’t belong here. I couldn’t stay. Venus is no place for a young alpha.”

“But you were her son. Her baby.”

If he killed his father, Rey imagined it could not have been unwarranted. Discarded and abandoned, her heart split as she watched her big, strong alpha describe his loss and loneliness through the glass. To imagine anyone wouldn’t want him - that anyone could send him away filled her with utter amazement and rage. His eyes held hers, impossibly gentle and unbearably close. Rey’s forehead met the glass wall as she leaned towards him. 

“She had a brother on Mars. I think she hoped he would look after me.” 

“Did he?”

Her alpha sighed and adjusted his arm, swallowing as his eyes landed on the wall behind Rey. “He tried. In his own way.” 

Sorrow, like the waves in the New York harbor she remembered had lapped at her, and her brow furrowed. “Ben.” 

He smiled. “Don’t be sad, Empress. I am here now.” He touched the glass between them, tracing her cheek with the back of his hand. “Mon unique.” 

“What does that mean?” She brightened as her heart leapt at his foreign words. 

“My only.” 

A blush crept across her face and she looked away before peering at him through her lashes. His steady gaze was fastened on her face unapologetically. 

“What language is it?” 

“French. The language of the Truthkeepers who live in the city where we’re educated on Earth.”

“The other city,” Rey breathed. She’d been forbidden from going, but she remembered photos of New York’s sister city. It lay across the ocean past the Statue of Liberty, birthplace of the war cry _“liberté, égalité, fraternité,”_ the mantra she’d seen on the banners waved in the history books about the War. 

He nodded. “It was called the City of Love once, before the War and the Split left the dead world demolished. Most of my education about the Split took place there. It’s still beautiful, in a way.” 

“When you speak to me like that...I,” she gulped and her eyes dropped to watch her hands tug at the lace edge of her bell sleeve, “I like it.” 

The hum he sounded was at the back of his throat, amused and pleased. 

 

_ You please him.  _

Something like pride tumbled inside her and she trembled. She shivered and smiled, biting her lip shyly while he watched her steadily. 

“Why were you in New York?” 

“Snoke. Our leader. He sent us to gather supplies. We shouldn’t have even been out that day, so close to dusk, but we were and then I saw you. On the steps, all wide-eyed and lovely. I didn’t know who you were, but I saw you.”

His eyes were inky black as he spoke, endless pools of a gentleness void of suggestion, vulnerable and raw as Rey reached to trace a finger against the glass. His Roman nose, the cupid’s bow of his top lip, the regal brow and stubbled jaw of his face. She outlined his features and committed them to memory as he spoke. 

“I saw you,” he repeated. 

“I saw you, too.” 

“As I see you now.”

 

It was too enraging, the wall that kept them apart. Rey reached for the panel again, slamming a palm and insisting it open, only to huff as Ben shook his head kindly. “They can’t keep up apart for long.” 

“No. They cannot.” Determination hardened her eyes as she nodded and gritted her jaw. They certainly would not. 

“It’s late, and it’s been a long day. My omega needs rest.” 

 

Rey’s heart seized and her breath caught. 

_ My omega. _

“Don’t you?”

She nodded slowly. He would claim her in return, as she had already claimed him. Her heart soared and she smiled. Her eyes slid closed and she pressed a hand to her lips, moving to press her kiss to the glass. 

 

“How do you say ‘my love’?”

_ “Mon amour.”  _

“How do you say ‘I will come back’?”

_"Je viendrai demain."_

She met his eyes and held a hand to her heart.  _ “Je viendrai demain, mon amour.” _

The smile he rewarded her with made her weak. A cramp spiraled as it burned through her belly and she held his gaze. 

“I’ll be waiting for you. Just you.” 

 

Rey rolled onto her back as golden light illuminated her room. The stars had slipped from view, and Rey kicked off her blankets. Tenacity bloomed sure and fiery, and Rey called for Kaydel and D’Acy. She was the Empress of Venus, wasn’t she? What was the point of a crown if it did not afford privilege? Indignation bubbled, hot and annoyed as she dressed. Her midriff gown tinkled as it trailed the halls behind Rey, who glided through the palace to the throne room. The wings at her back curved close to her shoulder blades as she hurried, determined to demand her alpha’s freedom, and understand why she continually learned new and troubling secrets. 

Every day on Venus brought a surprising bit of information to Rey, and her suspicions mounted. For an omega raised in a royal house since childhood who was sent abroad to be educated and had been coronated to reign over a planet of her people, she was sorely uninformed. Her irritation climbed as she approached the throne room. 

 

With every step she took, her will solidified. 

She would face Leia again, more assured, determined to win her alpha’s freedom. His imprisonment was not only unnecessary, it was insulting, not to mention unwise as it could lead to an interplanetary conflict. What if the Martian leader heard the treaty was not upheld? That not only was his champion denied his role as consort, but chained and imprisoned? Perhaps Leia was too close to the situation to consider the ramifications, but Rey was about to enlighten her. 

If Leia was unmoved, she’d go to the Council. Mon Mothma and Ahsoka could be trusted to lead the Council democratically, they would understand Rey’s frustrations. As upholders of the treaty, and right hand of the throne, they would surely be able to make Leia understand, and if not, Rey was not above using persuasion to plead her case and make them see.    
This was an emergency, after all.    
  
If all else failed, there was Jyn, who led the omega valkyries, bravest of them all, and most willing to be contrary. If Leia and the Council failed to see Rey’s concerns, and she found herself head of a worthless state, a figurehead leader of a tin-crowned kingdom, she would appeal to Jyn. 

 

One way or another, she was getting her alpha free, and going to him. 

There was one way to maintain peace, safety and order in the solar system, and lucky for Rey it aligned with the wishes of her heart, as well. 

 

*****  
  


“You don’t know the ways of an alpha.” 

“You don’t know what he’s capable of.”

“He is dangerous, Rey.” 

“Trust us, we know what’s best.”

“The valkyries are sworn to protect you, even from yourself.” 

“The alpha we have chosen for you will appease the Martian king.” 

“The delegation has been kept waiting long enough.”

“This alpha will be a superior match in every way for you, Your Beauty.” 

“We want what is best for you. You’ll see.” 

“We promise.” 

 

She was breathless from arguing and lightheaded with throbbing pain when Rey brought a hand to her temples and squeezed her eyes closed. Her head fell back against the wall outside the throne room as she breathed through a swell of pain in her belly, hissing and standing straight as it ebbed. 

They had been waiting. 

Armed with answers for each of Rey’s demands, insisting even as she continued to plead her case, they’d been prepared to respond too completely for Rey to have convinced anyone of her position. 

Mon Mothma, Ahsoka, even Jyn and the Council had agreed with Leia that another alpha should be considered as consort for the Empress. 

Rey had shaken her head vehemently, raising her voice and pacing as they spoke in even tones. Tepid and placid, like undisturbed water they’d raised their eyebrows at Rey as she railed against their suggestion of an alternative alpha for consideration, but in the end she’d slammed open the door and barely contained a defeated howl. 

 

She walked to her alpha’s cell briskly, head high and eyes flaming with need and concealed disappointment. Rounding a familiar corner, she licked her lips, mouth parting to dismiss the guards, when she stopped abruptly. 

The door to the cell was closed as it had been the night before, but no valkyries stood guard. Glancing around, Rey realized she was alone in the alcove. She reached for the door, tugging it open, and she froze. The transparisteel that had kept her from him was gone

And so was he. 

A vacant, perfect room stared back at Rey. The bed sat made in the corner, blankets tucked neatly and pillows fluffed against the rich, mahogany headboard. Freshly scented towels and wrapped soaps sat unused on the chest at the foot of the bed, and the clean rugs covering the stone floors were void of footprints. 

Rey ran a hand over the clean bed and looked with tearful eyes at the late afternoon sky, pale rose and golden clouds, and tears ran down her cheeks. 

She had come back, and he was gone. 

She could feel it in the air, in the echoing chasm it left in and around her without asking anyone or seeking answers, all the fight bled out of her as they took him further from her yet. 

He was gone. 

  
  


Lavender powder and peach crystal rouge stained the pillows as Rey sank onto his bed. She inhaled deeply as she wept, breathing in any last remnant of his scent. She cried loudly, muffled by the pillows as she mourned. They’d sent him to Mars as a child. They’d taken him from her in the arena. They’d kept him from her with cell walls. And they’d taken him further still now, and Rey had no idea how to find him.

She groped blindly at his bed while she cried, desperate to pull herself into his ghost, and her fingers fumbled on a cool, metallic angle as she burrowed into the narrow bed. Fingers curled around a form, and Rey tugged the metal from beneath the pillow. 

A buckle. 

A length of leather.    
His belt. 

She had his belt. Had he forgotten it? Or - 

Rey turned it over in her hand, a long strip of black leather that smelled of deep sandalwood and man -  _ alpha.  _ The silver buckle was a rectangle, solid and heavy in her palm. She ran her fingertips over it, picturing it slung below his navel as he rested a palm his belt, effortlessly resting while his sword hung at his side. 

Turning it over, Rey glimpsed the edge of a green twinkle. Carefully, she nudged at a small, computerized chip and it fell into her lap from underneath the belt buckle. Tiny, just the size of her fingernail, Rey held it up to the light as her tears dried in salty rivers on her clean cheeks. A transparent holodisc with only one, small green dot, she gasped as she glanced at the door and quickly scooped the belt to her chest. 

Concealing the chip inside her top, nestled close to her heart, she slid the belt around her thigh beneath her skirt and looped it until she buckled it tightly. With head held high and wings at her back, the Venutian empress left her alpha’s cell for the second time, and headed for her room with her head held high. 

  
  


********

 

“Good morning, Your Beauty.” 

Phasma tied back the silk drapes of Rey’s room as morning light poured inside. Pastel clouds bubbled outside the dome, as they did every morning. Rey laid still and watched as Phasma picked up Rey’s robe and tutted, laying it over the back of her bed. 

“The queen regent wants to see you after breakfast, Rey. She wants to introduce you to the alpha she’s chosen for you.”

Silently, Rey watched from her bed and Phasma straightened Rey’s atomizers and turned to face her. 

 

“Alright?”

“I have already met my alpha.”

Phasma cocked her head and licked her lips, raising her chin. “Your Beauty - “ 

“I said, I’ve already met my alpha.” 

Phasma’s mouth snapped shut, and she smiled gently. “Alright, my love. I know. I know.” She rested a hand over Rey’s shin where it lay beneath her covers, and met her eyes. “Come and eat, and we’ll talk after your solar water bath. Alright?” 

Alone under the morning sunlight that shined down onto her bed, Rey tossed her covers off. She’d tried everything she could think of to unlock the chip, until she was convinced it wasn’t loaded with any information. Her voice, her fingerprint, her hair, her tears - nothing could entice the encrypted chip to display whatever was buried inside. 

Rising, she walked to the dome wall and sighed in frustration, watching the neverending clouds. If Leia could control an entire planet and sustain life amidst a desolate, toxic planet, maybe it was no surprise Rey was finding it impossible to implement her will, crowned empress or not

“The alpha she’s chosen for you,” she muttered, turning to her breakfast tray. Caf sat beside an orange & magnolia teacake, a white, porcelain vase placed beautufully at the edge of the tray. A single, pink rosebud peeked out, audacious and fresh. Rey remembered the last flower she had been given, the rose - handed to her as she sat watching the tournament. 

The alpha with the curls, winking before jumping back down into the arena. 

Her finger.   
Pain. 

With a jolt, she hurried to her bed and pulled the precious length of leather from beneath her pillow and turned the metal buckle over in her hand, catching the holodisc chip. She carried it to the table and reached for the rosebud. Grimacing, she carefully pierced her finger with the thorn. The flower punctured her fingertip, slicing the skin apart, a drop of bright, red blood blossoming as Rey watched. She dropped the flower and squeezed her bloody finger, and a single drop of blood filled the holodisc completely.     
  
Rey held the chip as it lit from inside, and against the swirling backdrop of Venutian acid clouds outside the dome, an image appeared. Her brilliant alpha - he’d left this for her. He was waiting for her. 

Somewhere. 

Maybe there. She smiled as she inhaled. He was waiting, and she would find him. 

Rey’s eyes widened as she took in the image, huge and foreign as it loomed huge against the dome wall. White-capped mountains, a sprawling, quiet city in a pale valley.  Snow-covered streets and endless, multicolored flags strung from spire to spire beamed at Rey as she peered closer. The clouds above the alien city hovered at the tops of the massive mountains in the city’s distance, and a word curved like a banner over the image as it shined back at Rey, who gaped at it, chip held tightly between shaking fingers.    
  
Kathmandu.

  
  


*******

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments are more precious to me than anything, you guys. Honestly, I am incredibly thankful for your readership. We have many more steps to go until all the cards are on the table in this story, but at least now you know where we will head next. We have a heat coming up to get through, after all, don't we?  
> Don't worry, my friends.  
> We're getting there. 
> 
> See you next Saturday.  
> xoxo  
> Berry
> 
> PS - French is hard, feel free to correct me. xoxoxooxooxoxoxooox


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

Chapter 8

Steam rose from the volcano beyond the dome. 

Rey strolled the palace halls deliberately, one foot in front of the other. The incessant urgency in her core squeezed into a solid brick of pain, undetectable to the Venutian citizens she passed as she walked. A calm smile graced her golden-freckled face.  Only the tremor in her hands would have suggested her internal turmoil. 

She nodded at each omega in turn, willing her breathing to calm and her heart to slow. With only a short distance to manage and a single meeting to endure with Leia, Rey lifted her chin and raised her eyebrows at the throne room attendants. Crown high on her head and a shaking hand to her train, she paced herself as she glided to her throne. 

Her crystal sandals padded softly on the thick ivory carpet. 

She met Leia’s eyes, holding her gaze as she pulled her shoulders back further. The holodisc was locked securely in the golden locket fastened around Rey’s neck, safe against her heart, and nothing in the galaxy would win it from her. 

“Your Beauty.”

“Leia.” 

Rey sat tall, back straight and wings expanding as she gripped the armrests of her throne. Considering their conflict the last few days, Rey was determined to manage her discussion with Leia as painlessly as possible. The less she said, the better. 

It was clear Leia had an idea how this should go, and Rey was restless to set her own plan into motion.    
What happened here was only a temporary distraction from Rey’s agenda. Without the help of the regent or the Council, Rey would endure this farce of a meeting and get to work afterward. 

“How did you sleep, my love?” Leia’s voice was deep and melodic. She vibrated with concern and authenticity until Rey felt her neck’s bristling hair relax and her jaw unclench, a familiar ease spreading through her tense limbs. 

“Well. Thank you.” 

_ Focus.  _

“Good. Good.” She turned to Mabry and Dahlia at her elbow, gesturing to the doors. “Will you let him in please, my dears? We’re ready.” 

Rey swallowed. She looked straight ahead, refusing to meet Leia’s eyes as the elder woman turned to her. Rey’s heart jumped into her throat, and her fingers trembled around the crushed velvet armrest. 

“There’s someone I want to introduce you to, Your Beauty. A very special alpha with a stunning pedigree. A true hero.” 

_ Focus.  _

The omega women flounced to the door in layered, chiffon skirts and tinkling silver jewels, a plume of sugared lemon and lavender. The doors opened, and alpha scent corkscrewed through the throne room. Rey braced herself on her throne as the rich scent of caf and mocha cream floated towards her. Her stomach lurched, and a hand landed at her belly as she steeled herself. 

The curly-haired alpha who strutted inside the throne room was sun-burnished and muscular under his red toga. Salted, dark hair curled in loops behind his black mask, a dagger strapped to his thigh glinted at Rey from inside his robes as he walked surely to her throne. Taking a knee on the ivory carpet, the alpha removed his mask and bowed his head.

“Your Beauty.” His mouth tilted in an uneven smile and his eyes sparkled playfully when he met Rey’s gaze. Perfect teeth and a lighthearted tone - he looked at Rey like he knew a secret.  “I am your humble servant, Empress.” 

Rey resisted the urge to roll her eyes and look away. His attempts at charm may have won some other omega, his scent enrapturing someone other than Rey, but her belly churned with nausea and she stifled an exasperated sigh. She nodded her assent, her ruby lips a flat line, guarding her clamped jaw.

 

“Captain Poe Dameron is a worthy alpha, Your Beauty. Pedigree and training, education and strength, and above all clean hands worthy of a champion. He will make a stellar consort.” 

Poe nodded a grin at Leia as she sat beaming, satisfied. Rey watched motionless. 

“A fine match,” Leia said. 

Rey’s nostrils flared as her cheeks burned with pent up anger, a well of acid bubbling in her belly like the lazy clouds that tumbled outside the window. She funneled her thoughts at the omegas standing nearby, gazing at the handsome alpha on his knee. Silently, her eyes blazed as they met her stare, wide-eyed. 

 

_ Remove him and leave us. Now.  _

Dahlia and Mabry hurried to his side, whispering as they motioned for the alpha to accompany them out. 

“Your Beauty,” they breathed, barely meeting Rey’s eyes as they curtsied. 

“Your Beauty,” he said with a deep bow to each throne. He tugged the mask over his face, a hand at his sword as it swung with each shuddering step. 

 

When the doors closed firmly behind them, Rey spoke. 

“This is what you want,” she said, more a statement than a question. “You want me to choose this alpha instead of the tournament champion.” She met Leia’s eyes. “Instead of your son. My rightful alpha.”

Leia gulped and she opened her mouth to speak as she watched Rey. Each movement seemed cumbersome, and Rey wondered what this answer required of her. 

“Yes.” 

A beat passed as Rey searched her eyes for a faltering glance, a frown, any hesitation. 

“I don’t believe you.”

Leia inhaled, and Rey shook her head, unwilling to be poisoned by Leia’s attempts to convince her. “It doesn’t matter. The Venusian subjects deserve to be matched with their alphas, and they’ve been kept waiting long enough.”

“I completely agree.”

“Make the announcement the Grand Romance begins tomorrow.” 

Leia nodded at the omegas who stood at Rey’s elbow. Coral and Laryssa scooped up their skirts, smiling brightly as they raced to the doors. Arrangements for the Great Ball, a week of feasting and the numerous mass matching events would require a planet’s worth of investment. After that, the other continent of Venus would finally welcome its intended residents after a decade of preparation. The second dome over Aphrodite Terra, sealed above many hundreds of homes for newly-matched alphas and omegas had been planned and nurtured since Rey’s ascent to the Throne of Beauty, just waiting for this day. 

Once royally approved, couples would be secure inside a sweet bubble of safety. A generation of correctly-matched alphas and omegas within a stone’s throw of Rey’s rule, under Leia’s watchful eye.  The palace virtually trembled with impending thrill.

 

“We will do this my way.” 

“Of course. You’re the Empress after all, this is only my suggestion.” 

Rey’s eyes snapped to hers. “Your suggestion.”

Leia nodded and raised her eyebrows. “I only want what’s best for you, my beauty, and to keep you safe.” 

Gathering her skirt as she stood, Rey fixed her eyes on the door, planning her exit. “Send him to my room tonight. We’ll lay a foundation for our relationship, but I won’t be rushed.”    
“Of course, my love. Whatever I can do to - “ 

“It’s going to take time, Leia. I’ve had a shock the last few days, and I’m not feeling strong. I’ll do this my way, or no way at all.”

“I understand.” 

“And if he is to be unmasked, I will be veiled. One of us, at least, should attempt a semblance of decorum.”

Leia raised an eyebrow, and nodded slowly. 

“If I disagree with your preference, and find him unacceptable, I intend to mediate the fallout with the Martian king myself.” 

The icy flow of resistance between them was palpable and Rey’s cheeks burned with barely contained energy. 

“Rey - I…”

“I am grieving, Leia.” She looked away, swallowing instead of welling with unshed tears. “I know you understand what that’s like.”

“Alright, dear,” Leia finally said softly, a smothered fire.  “Anything you need.” 

Rey headed for the wooden double doors, reminding herself to hold her head high and to emmenate peaceful acceptance. 

“I only want to protect you. I hope you know that.” Rey took a step, but paused and turned as Leia spoke. “If I didn’t think this was the safest choice for a mate, I would never have interfered, Rey. This is for your own safety, my beauty. You must know that.”

“It’s so generous of you to think of my safety, Your Beauty,” Rey said, walking calmly towards the throne room doors, trailing her gold-hemmed gown against the ivory carpet. “Perhaps it’s time you began thinking of your own.” 

 

******

 

Music echoed through the palace. Rey paced herself, gliding past scores of hurrying omega Venusians. 

The mood was decidedly boyuant. Bliss reverberated through the dome, audible as the stringed song that cascaded from the Great Hall. A melody lush as the palace gardens bloomed as all the citizens of Venus prepared for the Grand Romance.    
Two hundred alphas had been kept waiting. Grown Martian alphas, whose masks did nothing to conceal hungry eyes were behind closed doors on a planet ripe with perfumed, adult, unclaimed omegas.    
  
If she hadn’t agreed to Leia’s proposition, Rey wondered if the entire planet would have imploded from the pressure of the heady pheromone soup another day. There was only so much solar water on Venus to begin with, and the supply had steadily dwindled since the alphas had arrived. 

Any minute, it was going to take more than transparisteel chambers to keep a planet’s worth of alphas from the omega women who had awaited their arrival all their lives.    
  
Rey grinned as she walked towards the lift, ignored by groups of Venusians who hurried past her, deep in discussions. 

The Great Ball would be all anyone could think about from here on out.    
  
She was depending on it.    
  
  
******

  
  


When the doors slid open, and Rey stepped out of the lift, her grin widened.    
She hadn’t even needed a key. 

_ Finn. _

A concentrated thought, a decisive plan was all she’d been armed with. Persuasion had always been an unpredictable, confusing gift. With few allies, Rey spun tightly inside her own power, a cocoon of energy she unfurled with increasing ease.

The corners of her smile lifted to a pleased smirk, and she glanced around, looking for the man who worked in maintenance. 

She slung her heavy gown over one arm, sandals tapping faintly on glossy floor tiles as Rey peered around huge machinery. 

Relief coursed through her as she peeked over a silver tower and glimpsed the back of his head. Short, close-cropped hair, just a few rows beyond Rey bobbed between humming machines. His pencil scribbled notes on his clipboard as Rey snuck up behind him. 

 

“Oh!” Finn startled, wheeling around to face Rey as she shushed him. 

Looking around, she lowered her voice, gripping his arm tightly. “Shh! Not so loud, please.” 

Finn’s brow furrowed and his eyes shot around before landing on Rey’s face. “What - Empress - Your Beauty, what - “ 

“Finn, I need your help.” 

“My help? But, I - I’m - an  _ employee _ , Your Beauty. An immigrant.” 

“You’re a beta.” 

“Yeah, but…” 

“An Earth-born beta. Isn’t that right?” 

Finn nodded slowly, tilting his head in confusion. “Yeah. But why - “ 

“I need help, Finn. Will you help me?” Rey sought his eyes beseechingly as he watched her face.

“Of course Your Beauty. It’s an honor, but don’t you have friends who can help you? Anybody at court,” he suggested, “Queen Leia’s available, I’ll bet. Don’t you want her or a Council member to help you? I don’t know what I can do to help that they - “ 

“I need your help, Finn Freeman - _ yours. _ Not theirs. Will you do it?”

Finn studied her face for a moment, exhaling hard. “Sounds like Queen Leia and the Council might not like this, whatever you’re into, Your Beauty, if you don’t mind my saying, and I’m here with a diplomatic asylum visa, after all…” He trailed off, bringing a hand to the back of his neck. “You really need help?”

“I really need help.” Rey glanced around again. “I can get you money. Keep you safe. Or I could force you,” she said with a sigh, “but, I would really rather not.” 

Finn held up his hands. “Okay. Okay. Just let me ask you this.” He ducked his head, voice softer as their heads bent towards one another.  “Does this have anything to do with the fact the Council has me producing plain water down here to send upstairs? Without omega pheromone suppressants?” 

Rey blinked. 

“Suppressants?”

“Suppressants. Like we normally put in all the solar water.” 

“Solar water has...suppressants?” Rey eyed him as her own eyebrows stitched together. 

“Yeah. Didn’t you know we - you...didn’t know.” 

Rey stared at him, sorting facts, dumbstruck. 

“Oh boy,” Finn breathed. “Alright. Yeah, you do need someone to help you out. Didn’t even know what goes into the water they bathe and feed you guys up there on the surface.” He muttered to himself as Rey blinked twice, standing taller. 

“Have you ever heard of a place called Kathmandu?”

“Kathmandu.” 

“Yes. It’s a city surrounded by mountains. White-capped mountains. And there are little, rectangular flags, all the colors of a cloudbow strung from building to building...or...at least there were? Once?” Rey looked at him hopefully. “Does that sounds familiar?”

Finn shook his head. “No, Empress. I’m sorry, it doesn’t. But,” he said hurriedly, as her face fell, “so much of Earth was destroyed during the War - there’s no telling what’s still left on most of the dead world.” 

Rey sighed, biting her lip. “It has to be there. It  _ has  _ to. And if so, I need to go there. Immediately.” 

He nodded, looking at her intently. “It may be. Travel into regions affected by the War was restricted by the First Order. There really wasn’t a way to find out for ourselves if what we’d been taught about the three remaining continents was even true, growing up in New York.” 

Rey eyed him, wondering why she’d never heard of the First Order before. She licked her lips and ducked her head again. 

“So, you’ll help me?” 

“I - “ 

“Please, Finn. I need a friend right now. Please?”

“Alright,” he muttered, sighing as he shook his head. “I’ll help you, Your Beauty.” 

“Thank you, Finn.” 

“You’re welcome, Your Beauty. Anything for a friend.” 

“Rey.” 

Finn’s eyebrows shot up. 

“If we’re friends, call me Rey.” 

 

*****

 

Briar stepped closer to the dome wall, reaching to touch the cool glass. Rey watched as her friend’s fingertips traced the Kathmandu skyline against the cloudy mountain backdrop. 

Dropping her hand, her jaw fell open, lips parted in silent confusion. She turned to face Rey. “What is that? Where is that? How?” 

Rey bit her lip, and she tucked the holodisc inside her locket, wiping the smear of drying blood from her finger. She took a breath and met Briar’s confused expression. 

“It’s an Earth city. I think.” 

“But why are you showing me this now? We have the Grand Romance tomorrow. And, Leia’s introduced you to the alpha she’s chosen. What’s this all about?”

Rey sat down and Briar joined her, knees bumping beneath their gowns as they crowded onto the bench at the foot of Rey’s bed.

“They may have taken him from me, but that’s where he is, B. He is mine, and I want him.” She nodded to the dome wall where the Kathmandu image had illuminated. “My alpha.” She met her friend’s eyes. “I’m going to find him.” 

Briar’s expression eased, and Rey felt her slip into the natural rhythm of their lifelong friendship. One race after another, a never-ending, secret game between best friends, Briar smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Of course you are. How can I help?” 

 

One person on three planets could be trusted to know Rey as well as she knew herself. Rey lifted a thick, ivory length of heavy lace, studded with glittering diamonds, and draped it over Briar’s face. With sure hands, she raised the crown from her head and lowered it gently onto Briar’s, securing the lace. 

No one would guess the woman who wore the Venusian crown was anyone but Rey. Not even an alpha who came to call in private, or the courtiers who agreed to give the Venusian Empress ample time to grieve. 

“Briar, I need you to do something for me.” 

  
  


*****

  
  


Strapped into her seat beside Finn, Rey curled a tight fist into her throbbing belly. The barge shot through dark space as Rey’s braided updo floated away from her head, and her hands lifted from the chair.  Breaking atmo on the royal cruiser had been more comfortable on her last trip to Earth. She’d been weighted down with jewel-crusted gowns and a pair of heavy wings at her back last time, though.

She rubbed her hands over her thighs, hidden inside faded, orange uniform pants instead of the pale, gauzy fabric of a midriff-baring dress. Empress Rey was back on Venus, awaiting Captain Poe Dameron in the Beautiful Palace. Surely, she was carefully bringing bites of broiled bison mint crudite, and tomato-lime relish with wild honeyed rice to her lips behind a lace veil.

Without angel wings at her back, Rey had never felt freer, watching Ishtar Terra disappear from view as the supply barge rocketed through the solar system towards Earth. 

 

“And you’re sure you can trust this Rose person?” 

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She glanced at Finn’s face and shook her head, shrugging. “All I know is there’s one person on Earth I know to go to, and it’s as good as any a place to start.” 

“Unless she gets word to Queen Leia you’re there when you’re supposed to be on Venus.” 

Rey watched the endless yawn of black space, scattered with stars whip past the viewport. “Yes. Unless that. But, Finn, I have no choice. I have to find him. And Rose has been a friend to me before.” 

“I sure hope she’s still in the mood to be friendly.” 

“She will. She must.” 

The blue-green planet spun into view as the horizon tilted, and Rey lifted her chin to glimpse its beauty. The recycled air of the barge almost dissipated as Rey imagined the fresh oxygen and new water of Earth. 

“Never gets old. No matter how many runs I make, never gets old.” 

Rey watched the Earth’s reflection in his dark eyes as Finn concentrated on the Earth’s appearance out the window. 

“You miss it?”

“Sure. But, I won’t be sticking around, that’s for sure. Once we’ve loaded up and you’ve found your friend I’m outta here ASAP.” 

“Okay.” 

Surely Rose was dependable enough Rey could trust her without Finn at her side, she hoped as her nervousness sent another spiraling burn of aching pain into her core. The thrumming demand of her belly and head were in constant competition for attention. The further she got since her time with Ben, the more pressing her need to lie down. She gulped past the instinct to whine and nodded resolutely. 

“No offense, Rey. I want to make sure you’re set and your friend is gonna help you and all, it’s just I know what happens to betas on Earth. I don’t like sticking around longer than necessary.” 

 

Rey turned to look at him as he managed the controls, flipping switches as he navigated the barge to Earth. “What happens to betas?”

“Disappear. All the time.”

Rey waited, and he continued. 

“Beta female kidnappings? Beta traps? You never heard about any of this?”

Rey watched as he steered the ship, studying Finn’s face. Would she never reach the end of new information? Would her world ever make sense again? 

“They’re rumors. Mostly, of course. And I’m a man, so probably nothing bad would happen to me, but still. I don’t like to do a whole lot more than touch down, load up, and head out.” 

He met Rey’s eyes as they broke atmo and the ship bounced as they sped towards the surface. “Why do you think I left?”

Speechless, she watched as New York came into view. The Statue of Liberty stood tall in the harbor, constant though water splashed her green, weathered knees, her single, broken arm reaching for the clouds.  The locket tucked inside Rey’s dingy, orange jumpsuit buzzed as the ship hovered above the landing pad, and a hand flew to her chest as it shook against her skin. 

He was here - somewhere he was near enough that her body throbbed with need and her head swam with desire. She  tumbled out of the barge as her feet hit Earth’s crust. Sunshine poured over her frame, undiluted and heated as she closed her eyes and tilted her face to the light. She took a breath, filling her lungs with bracing air, clean and sharp, and the locket buzzed again as she walked. 

Unzipping the suit, Rey tied the sleeves around her waist. The sun warmed her shoulders with pure, beaming heat, and she curled a hand around her locket. She fell into step beside Finn. Eyes narrowing, she pounded her frustrations and confusion and fury into the ground of the hangar. 

 

Her heart beat in her chest, a timpani drum of determination. Every step, every pulse, every ache reverberating in unison. 

_ Mon amour,  _ her whole being hummed, defiant and energized. _My love._

_ Alpha. _

_ I'm coming.  _

  
  


*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are all the most amazing readers and commenters ever. I am incredibly thankful for your support and wish I could every one of y'all in person. [@ReyloWarrior](https://twitter.com/ReyloWarrior) made the most beautiful [moodboard](https://twitter.com/ReyloWarrior/status/1103360575860588544) which I hope everyone gets to lay eyes on. _Thank you, babe!!!_
> 
> Love you guys!  
> See you next Saturday!  
> xo  
> Berry


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this? Is longgg.

 

Chapter 9

******

 

The size of the ship was not the problem.    
Kylo was used to squeezing himself into small spaces. It was an annoying if necessary aspect of interplanetary travel he was accustomed to. 

It wasn’t the cold, recycled air blasting directly at his face, or the shackles around his wrists. He’d been frustrated enough to break those before the pod had passed Earth.    
  


A meteoroid burned past the viewport, and Kylo traced it with his eyes until it blended into the endless black depths of space. 

It wasn’t the ship, or his cramped accommodations that made his heart speed with rising panic. The immensity of space, the infinite expanse of star-speckled darkness stretching into the unknown bore down on him, shrinking him as it whispered of his powerlessness. 

Weakness.    
_ Failure.  _   
  
The coordinates for Mars had been punched by a stranger. The hatch clicked shut with a hiss, and Kylo had traded furious growling for a guttural scream as the single pod shot into Venus’s sky before dawn. 

They were taking him from her further - into the sky, beyond her gravity. 

 

Hopeful, sparkling hazel eyes. Creamy skin that smelled of sugared orange. Honeyed apples. Wildflower gardens in France. Spring water.

The dip of her collarbone behind sheer ivory. The ripe swell of her breasts, rising with each breath she drew between rose petal lips. Small fingers held against the glass wall of his cell. Delicate feet laced into crystal sandals. Kylo’s eyes had trailed the leather straps that wound up her round calves, disappearing under too many layers.    
He’d laid awake, eyes on the ceiling’s shadows as he imagined ripping the fragile skirts, waist to hem. 

He hadn’t even been afforded a look backward, deprived of seeing her home vanish inside the billowing acid clouds. Kylo bellowed savagely, sole witness to his angry complaint. Heaving with aggravation, he sat restrained with a one-way ticket home.  

_ Home.  _

It was a joke which offered no comfort. 

 

Mars rose red and arid against the pitch black stretch of space behind it.  Kylo grunted as the pod shook, breaking atmo as his agitation spiked. His hands clenched into fists, the only noise inside the ship his grunted irritation at the oppressive restriction. 

His omega needed him and he’d been helpless as a lamb while they dragged him from her, locking him away like a criminal, shipping him off like a rejected parcel. 

Both descriptions fit aptly, after all. 

 

Rage shook his frame as he waited for the Martian alpha guards to release the airlock. Kylo shook the Venusian shackles to the silver floor of the hangar and threw his hair from his face with a snarl.    
  
He was steps from his personal ship, one whose generous comforts he’d never take for granted again, when a gasp caught his ear, and his steps came up short. 

“Commander?”

Kylo stopped. He turned slowly, willing himself to maintain composure. 

 

“You’re back?”

“No.” He waved a warning finger at the man, insisting with a menacing tone, “you never saw me.” 

Kylo took another step away, relishing in a moment’s reprieve to stretch his legs as he hurried to his personal ship. 

 

“Ren! Wait. _ Wait!  _ Why are you here? Where are the others? The delegation - “ 

Kylo huffed and turned again, meeting his training co-captain’s eyes. He gulped down annoyance. “I’m alone, and I’m off again. You never saw me. I was never here.” 

“But - Ren.  _ Wait.  _ What of the tournament? The objective? Have the treaty’s terms been met? What will you tell the Supreme Leader?”

“I’m not telling him anything. I am not here, you are not seeing me now, this conversation never happened.” Kylo took a step towards the red-headed man, eyes narrowed. “Do you understand me?”

Hux lifted his chin, studying Kylo with cool, blue eyes. “What will I tell him? If he asks, what do I say?”

 

Kylo had already pulled a mask over his face as he climbed inside the cockpit, flipping switches on the console.    
“I don’t care what you say. Everything is under control.” The hatch snapped shut, and Hux’s demanding inquiries were lost to the engine’s roar.

Hux took a step back, shielding his face from the firepower exhaust as Kylo rocketed from the hangar, a blazing trail of flames the only evidence he’d ever arrived. 

  
  


*****

 

They said New York was the city that never slept, and they were right. 

Endless city blocks of beta group housing lined the waterways that sliced through Manhattan, teeming with marine life. 

The heavy summer sun lit Central Park, warming Rey’s shoulders. She grinned, wincing through the brightness through squinting eyes. Their boat meandered through the tributaries bisecting the huge swamp. Rey grinned and breathed in the watery scent as Finn paddled them across the aqua lagoon. 

Tilled soil and wet earth filled her senses.

Beta territories were the fertile stuff of Rey’s dreams, and the ancient park buzzed with aquatic life. Crickets and roaches scurried past patient frogs lounging on lily pads in the lagoon. Every inch of the park was framed by lush, overgrown gardens dense with heavy boughs of magnolias, rose bushes and wild orchids.    
Tulips and dandelions crowded at the feet of headless park statues in knee-deep water. Ivy climbed the scaffolding surrounding the red-bricked buildings around the outskirts. 

 

Rey hopped once out of the small boat in excitement as they rounded a familiar corner. She knew the way from here. 

 

“Come on!” 

“Rey - wait!” 

It was one thing to proceed cautiously on Venus, but this was not Venus and Rey was no Empress of Earth. She ignored Finn with a sly smile of deep satisfaction and broke into a run through shallow puddles.

 

The air was fresh and sweet. Daily rain had ended the simmering fires of war decades before. Earth showered again in the safety of pure clouds. Rey breathed deeply as she ran, high on the endless availability of harmless air. 

The afternoon was young, and her heart was flying as the water at her ankles splashed while she ran. When Rose’s building came into view she slowed, bringing a hand to the cramp in her side. She heaved in delighted exhaustion, a recognizable spasm spiking in her belly. Finn jogged to her side a moment later, shaking his head.

 

“You’re just gonna leave me like that?” 

Rey smiled and twisted to see Rose’s building, pointing as she peered into the sunshine. “There.” She set off before Finn could object, darting across the empty roads at a casual pace. 

The heavy glass doors of her hotel slid open, and Rey grinned at the fragrant lobby. Silver buckets of pink peonies cascaded on lacquered tables, greeting Rey with their thick, floral perfume. A cool breeze swept over her bare, sun-kissed shoulders. 

 

“No,” a uniformed lobby attendant approached, waving a hand at Rey. “No. No. No. Right out the way you came in, beta.” 

Finn stepped up to Rey and held up his hands in surrender at the building employee. His graying hair was short beneath his stiff bellman’s hat. Rey recognized him from her last stay on Earth. 

“Oh, I’m so happy to see you again.” Rey took a step towards him and smiled, shoulders back as she remembered Phasma’s lifelong instruction to stand like a queen. 

The older man’s hand flew to his hip, and Rey watched his movements, pausing as her smile faltered. 

“ _ Out.  _ I’m not telling you again. We aren’t expecting any omega arrivals today, so your services are not needed, betas. Go back where you belong or I’ll call it in.” 

He widened his stance, and Rey’s mouth dropped open to protest. Finn put a hand to her elbow. 

“Let’s go,” he whispered, low and insistent. “Come on, Rey. Let’s get out of here.” 

“I don’t think you understand.” Rey shook Finn’s hand free of her elbow and her nostrils flared. “I am Rey, Empress of Venus, and I’m here looking for my beta friend, Rose. Perhaps you could call her for me?” She used her most calm voice, restraining herself. This man was confused, obviously thrown by her casual wardrobe, but Rose must be nearby.    
  


“And I’m the Governor of Califoregon. No betas allowed in here without prior authorization from the First Order.” 

“The First Order? But I’m - you know me. I was here not long ago. For education with a beta friend and - “ 

Three more uniformed staff walked out from behind a corner, and Rey and Finn took a step backward. He clutched at her elbow again. “Rey - “ 

“Alright,” she said loudly, “alright, fine. We’ll go. If you could just tell us where to find the Truthkeepers.”

“I’ll give you to the count of ten to get out of this building before I call the FOP.” He took a step towards the telcom, seated neatly on a polished table beside towering piles of blooming, red roses and white stephanotis. 

“Rey,” Finn hissed as she jerked her arm free again. She planted her feet and steeled her spine, jaw grinding as she felt her heart race. She spun a tight arrow of persuasion inside her words, and let loose all her will against the older man. 

He stopped before his hand landed on the telecom. 

 

_ Where are the Truthkeepers? _

 

The pregnant silence weighed heavily, and the older man broke the quiet with a gentle tone. His violence and sarcasm had drained away like receding water. 

“Mulberry and Canal. Little Italy.” 

 

Finn dragged Rey by the hand to the glass doors as the guards watched them, stunned and motionless. 

“Wait! But, where is that?”

“I’ve got it. Let’s go,” Finn grunted as he tugged her through the doors. He dragged a canoe to the curb and they piled in. “I know where that is. Come on! Come on!” His head swiveled as he paddled hard, and Rey sat stunned by the aggressive standoff. They skidded and slid down streets, some flooded more deeply than others and Rey shook her head. 

 

Not recognizing Rey was justifiable.  She glanced down at her simple tank top under her fraying French braid laying on her shoulder. Her orange jumpsuit sleeves were tied haphazardly around her middle, and her feet were soaked to the ankles. 

No one would know she was Rey of Venus, that much was understandable. She barely recognized herself. 

The hotel employees attitudes towards betas however - that was another matter wholly. 

 

“What was that all about?” Rey wrenched in the boat to face Finn as he paddled. She clung to the boat’s walls as it rocked through the Manhattan roadways. “Why were they so hateful? Why isn’t Rose where we stayed together?” 

Finn sighed and looked behind once more. Few people walked the sidewalks, and only a couple boats passed them and on the watery roads.

“This isn’t Venus, Your Beauty. It’s not even the Earth you know, probably.” 

“Clearly. Why, Finn? What can you tell me?”

 

He changed his paddle to the other side of the boat, making a turn and peering up at the tall building they waded by. 

“Things are different for a beta when they are accompanied by an omega.” 

Rey waited and held on tightly while he navigated, watching his face as he licked his lips and shrugged. 

“Safer if divided. Just another way of saying separate but equal, if you asked me.” 

“You’re used to this?”

“Empress,” Finn raised his eyebrows and exhaled, smiling kindly as he turned the boat towards lower Manhattan, “I’m used to a whole hell of a lot that would probably shock you.” 

“And the First Order he was talking about back there. They’re the ones who have something to do with beta traps, the ones you mentioned?” 

Finn cleared his throat and ducked his head. “Not so loud, alright? We’re almost there.”  
  


The little boat slid to a stop and Finn grabbed for the curb while they teetered. Rey climbed out and Finn joined her, looping a rope around the fire hydrant. 

 

Tall, brick buildings four stories high towered on every side behind a black gate that blockaded the city blocks for miles. Young men and women scanned badges to access the doors. 

_ Beta Community 212. _

“How do we - “ Rey interrupted a woman who passed, handling a plastic ID badge, heading for the door. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Rose. Do you happen to know anyone named Rose?” 

The young woman eyed Rey carefully, looking her up and down. She sniffed the air delicately and glanced beyond her to Finn who stood watching. He chewed on his lip, looked up at the buildings that dwarfed them, and swallowed. 

“Who are you?” 

“I’m - I’m a friend. Rose’s friend.” 

“Highly doubtful,” the woman said, stepping away. 

“I mean it,” Rey insisted, following her. “I’m Rose’s friend. Truly. Please, do you know her?”

The woman sighed deeply, rolling her eyes and looked Finn up and down. 

She gestured to the door. “Come with me.” 

 

It was noisier inside the beta building than the hotel near Central Park. 

Voices spilled downstairs from corridors out of sight. Doors slammed, feet pounded stairs, and the woman eyed Rey and Finn closely before she told them to wait. 

Rey folded her hands behind her back and tried to look small, flattening herself against the plaster wall. Finn paced and looked out the door several times before Rose bounded down the stairs. 

 

“Your Beauty!” She gasped and curtsied, dropping her eyes when she saw Rey. The woman they’d met on the street watched as Rey pulled Rose by the shoulders and embraced her. 

“Rose! I was so worried when you weren’t at our hotel! They said you weren’t there and I was so shocked, I thought for certain that’s where you lived!” 

 

The young woman behind her snorted and folded her arms over her chest, looking away with a head shake. 

“No, no. I live here, with my sister.” She motioned to the young woman over her shoulder and she smiled warmly at Rey as she met her eyes. “Her name’s Paige.” 

“Paige,” Rey said with a smile, reaching her hand, “I’m Rey.” 

“Your Beauty,” Paige said with a stiff curtsy as she held Rey’s gaze. Rey dropped her hand and looked back to Finn who had stopped pacing. 

“I’m so relieved we found you,” Rey continued.

“What are you doing here?” Rose asked, shaking her head slightly. “You were heading back to Venus for the coronation just a month ago. I thought - “ 

“Things went badly. So badly, Rose, it’s been a bizarre set of circumstances, one after another that’s led me here, but I had to come.” 

Rose nodded once, eyes lifting to Finn. “And who are you?” 

 

Finn cleared his throat and took a step forward, holding out a hand. “Finn. Freeman. Current diplomatic resident of Venus. 100 percent, grade A-born Earthman.” 

Rose raised her eyebrows as she took his hand, looking back to Rey with a grin. 

“Well. A free Earthman and a lost ruler of Venus. This will be one hell of a story.” 

She gazed at Finn while they shook hands dreamily, slowing until they stood looking at one another without moving. Their hands hung linked, suspended between them. 

 

“Oh,” Rey said, remembering Finn’s preference, “Finn has to be going. He promised to bring me this far, but I want to honor his wish to leave quickly now that I’ve located you.” 

Finn met her eyes and then Rose’s, finally landing on Paige, whose arms dropped from her chest, eyebrows raising to her hairline.  He let go of Rose’s hand and punched his fists into his pockets. “Oh. I mean, I don’t have to rush right back. Necessarily. I mean, I am my own supervisor, after all.” 

  
Rose grinned. “Come on upstairs, I’ll make some caf while you fill us in.”

 

A slow smile spread over Rey’s face while they climbed the stairs behind the sisters. Finn shook his head with an eye roll and looked away as Rey stifled a laugh. 

  
  


******

  
  


“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it. I’m sorry, Rey. I have no idea where that is.” 

 

Rey heaved a disappointed sigh and flung herself onto the worn couch beside Finn. “Really? Are you sure?”

Rose nodded. “I’m sure. I’m sorry, but there’s no place on the three continents I know of that sounds like Kathmandu.” 

Rey met Rose’s sympathetic eyes and groaned. “Are you sure it’s somewhere on Earth?”

“Where else would it be?” Paige asked. 

Rey dropped her head to her hands and resisted the urge to scream. She’d come so far, and her head and belly throbbed with persistent, growing pain. The sun was setting beyond the brick building Rose’s windows faced. 

 

“What am I going to do now? How will I find him?”

“Can’t he find you? Maybe go home and just wait for him there?” Rose offered. 

“I can’t go back home. They’ll make me take a consort from the delegation, someone other than my alpha. It’s why I disappeared, it’s why I talked Briar into covering for me, it’s why - “ 

She doubled over, breathing through pain that carved a path through her gut, burning like wildfire through kindling. The ache was only growing more dire, taking her to a precipice of pain she could barely see past as it crested. It ate up everything in its path, bringing her to the edge of reason and clarity before ebbing like the tide. 

 

When her eyes opened, all three present were watching her with concern. 

“I need him. I don’t know how to explain it, and I don’t know how to find him, but, Rose. I need him.” 

Rose nodded. “I know. I see. I just - Paige,” she said abruptly, turning to her sister. “I have an idea.” 

Rey sat up taller on the cushions and leaned forward with anticipation. 

 

“Let’s take her to Maz.” 

  
  


*****

  
  


Her kitchen was clean as a whistle, and it smelled like baking pastry. Turquoise cabinets the color of the water in Central Park lined the small room. 

Maz waddled to the empty wooden chair and leaned her cane against the wallpaper. Lacing her hands atop the small table, she leaned in and eyed Rey. 

  
“So, highness. What’s this I hear about a map?”

Rey licked her lips and dove in. The diminutive woman across from her watched with wide eyes, round and unflinching behind thick glasses. 

“It’s not a map, exactly, but an image. My al - my  _ mate _ left it for me as a secret clue, and I have to go there.” She felt a slow heat bloom and build in her belly as she twisted slightly in the hard chair. 

“How do you know to meet him there?”

“I just do?”

“Are you sure?” Maz narrowed her eyes and held her gaze. “Or are you asking me?”

“I’m sure. I’m positive. I’m - “ The cramps that blossomed under her ribs spread through her core, racing along her nerves until her entire body stiffened in pain. She moaned, eyes squeezed tightly and caught her breath. Panting, Rey opened her eyes and felt her cheeks burn as she righted herself. 

“I’m sure. He’s there. He has to be. I just need to get to him. Please. Can you help me?”

 

Maz watched her one more moment before pulling her cane into her hand. Standing slowly, she shuffled across the kitchen and opened an aqua cabinet. Rows of small, amber bottles stood at attention, and Maz chose two before closing the cupboard door. 

She walked back to the table and placed the bottles on the table in front of Rey. 

 

“Kathmandu does not exist. As far as most people know, it was blown off the map in the War. “ She turned and sat in the chair opposite Rey, and continued as she propped her cane against the wall. 

“Men dropped bombs on all of eastern Europe and Asia. People died. Armies and then countries and finally entire continents disappeared. There’s nothing there anymore but water.”

 

Rey hung her head. Tears filled her eyes. Rose’s hand landed on her shoulder and Finn’s sigh behind her was deep and sad. 

“As far as most people know.” 

 

Rey’s head sprung up. 

“But, I am not most people,” Maz continued. “I am very old, and I have a very good memory.” 

Rey glanced over her shoulder at Rose who was listening raptly, and she shot back to Maz. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying as far as you’re concerned, Kathmandu disappeared off the face of the earth during the War, long before you were born…”

“Yes? And?”

“And I can send you there anyhow.” 

 

Rey’s face broke into a smile as she grasped Maz’s hands across the table. They were soft as paper and knobby, strong when she squeezed Rey’s hands. 

“You can? Really? How?”

“Calm down, child. Don’t worry. It’ll be worse for your heat if you are excited.” 

“My heat,” Rey murmured, looking at Maz, “so that’s what’s happening?”

“Of course, my dear. You’re an unclaimed omega woman who’s been introduced to her alpha but not mated. Naturally, you’re experiencing mild discomfort, I’d imagine. Is that right?”

 

Rey grimaced, but nodded. “Yes. Mild discomfort.” 

Maz nodded with closed eyes, a picture of undisturbed wisdom. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. Allowed to go on for too long without the touch of a mate, an untended heat could inflame your entire system. Burn you to the ground from within. If left unchecked, it could kill you.” 

 

Rey gulped. 

“You haven’t any suppressants with you. Correct?”    
Rey met Finn’s eyes. She shook her head, looking back to Maz. “No, I haven’t.” 

Maz nodded. “Drink this one.” She pushed the smallest bottle across the table to Rey. “It’s meant to help with the pain and stave off symptoms until you can find your mate.”

 

Rey curled a palm around it, looking at the bigger bottle. “What’s this one for?”

“That one’s optional.” Maz smiled wryly. “It will knock you out on your flight to Nepal. It’s not a hop, skip and a jump, you know, my dear, and we have nothing around here but old, clunky freighters to fly for air travel.” 

 

The old woman hugged her tightly at the door of her home. Paige, Rose and Finn waited on the sidewalk, watching as the dusky sky darkened. 

 

“Thank you for helping me, Maz. I’m so thankful.” 

“You’re welcome, my dear.” She smiled and cocked her head. “I remember your queen, you know. When she was a girl, very much like yourself.”

“Leia? You knew Leia?”

Maz nodded. “Knew her when she was young and in love once, too. Bound and determined to do what she thought best, to hell with the consequences.”

Her palm on Rey’s shoulder was firm, even if Rey loomed over her. 

  
“You are in love, so I know you won’t be careful, but, Rey, promise me this much, at least...be brave. Whatever may come, be brave, young queen.”

Rey laid her hand atop Maz’ and squeezed gently before turning to leave.

“I promise.” 

 

She hurried away, falling into step beside Finn and the sisters, and the night was quick to swallow them in darkness. They climbed into the small boat and shoved off silently.

When she turned back to look again, Maz was gone, and the silent block they left was plunged into inky night. 

  
  


******

  
  


_ Ahmmmmmmmmmm _

_ Ahmmmmmmmmmm _

_ Ahmmmmmmmmmm _

 

Rey woke abruptly. A humming from somewhere beyond her head infringed on her consciousness, and her eyes fluttered open. Her hand flew to her aching belly, and the whole world was white. 

The mountains that rose on the horizon were ringed with clouds and topped with snow. She watched them grow closer, taller, as the Falcon approached. She burned so brightly with pain, Rey imagined running into the cold wetness she’d read about, rolling as steam poured off her skin until she cooled. 

 

_ Ahmmmmmmmmmm _

Jerking in the captain’s chair, she felt the thrum of the Falcon whimper as the ship rumbled through the air. She’d lost consciousness sometime after she’d broken atmo, aware only of a heaviness seeping through her bones. The amber bottle Maz had given her was tucked inside the pocket of a woolen coat Rose had draped over her arm when they’d hugged goodbye in New York. 

 

“It was cold in the Himalayas, once upon a time, I think.” 

She’d hugged the smaller woman tightly to her chest, blinking back tears as she thanked her for helping. 

Finn had left shortly before the Falcon took off, promising to come find her with Maz’s help if Rey ever sent word she needed help. He’d required four sets of promises before he’d climbed back into the Venusian ship and taken off. 

 

Rose had watched the trail of smoke as Rey had held a hand out to Paige. 

“Thank you.” Paige eyed her warily and shook her hand stiffly before rolling her eyes with a reluctant smile. “You’re welcome. You aren’t so bad in real life.” 

Rey had smiled at the attempt of civility, and hugged Rose one more time before climbing inside the cockpit of the Falcon. 

 

“You don’t get to be my age without making a couple deals along the way,” Maz had said. “The First Order has done enough business with me over the years, and they know this ship. Break atmo and head east. When the Falcon finds the right reentry point in orbit and aligns with the Far East, she’ll make reentry and land. You take care not to allow your pain out of your control. Rest, if you can, and you should survive until you find him.” 

 

The liquid was bitter and warm sliding down, but it left a sweet aftertaste of peppermint, and it was the last thing Rey remembered after she punched in the coordinates Maz had given her. 

 

Her eyes had drooped and then closed completely as the ship sank comfortably inside the Earth’s orbit. 

She dreamed of clouds and lace, red roses and crystal glass. Prisms played at the corners, casting cloudbows and arcing color over her visions as she slept. In every dream she captured, he was there. Touching her face, he spoke gently as he hovered above her.

 

_ Mon unique _ , he said, and Rey pulled him through the blurry glass until he was firm inside her arms. She tugged him against herself hungrily and he brushed the hair from her forehead, kissing her with a tenderness that broke her heart. 

 

Warmth flowed from his fingers into her limbs, creeping like ivy over red brick into her pumping heart. His dark eyes held hers and she was lost, a comfort like her bed canopied with stars under the dome on Venus. 

She gazed up at him, welcomed to graze his skin with her hands, take her time tracing the hot skin of his plump lips and the firm muscle of his arms. 

“It hurts, alpha,” she confessed in her dreams, eager for a helpless state she was deprived of as royal leader of Venus. “Take care of me. Comfort me. Make me yours. Take this pain, take this - “ 

His lips against hers were salvation, and his hard, heated palm at her belly a cleansing balm. 

 

“I’ll make it all better,” he said in her dreams as he faded. The edges curved in, and she watched as his dark eyes paled. She clawed at him, pulling him closer as her dream disintegrated and pain shot through her with a burning arrow. 

 

“No! Don’t go!  _ No!  _ Alpha! Ben, no! Please! Don’t leave me!” 

She screamed until she was hoarse, out of breath and panting until he’d dissolved into mist. 

Breathless, she’d curled in on her throbbing belly, weeping over his loss and the humming of her belly grew louder and louder until it woke her. 

 

The Falcon touched down in a valley, and Rey threw off her belt. 

She stumbled out of the cockpit, jamming open the button to lower the ramp, and fell to her knees as she took a step onto terra firma. The ground was uneven, and she was unstable. 

Every heartbeat churned through her body with a quaking need. Her hands shook and her belly rolled in her skin, making her unable to stand still or walk straight. 

Hands on the rocky terrain, she registered a chill, but she flung herself to the dirt, welcoming the cool air. 

 

Pebbles and twigs poked at her back as she heaved, laying in the dirt. The sun was reaching high, but the wind was chilled, and Rey breathed in the winter. 

Her chest rose and fell as she lay helpless, pain arcing through her uninterrupted. 

With a deep inhale, she closed her eyes, grateful to be still, breathing clean air. The aching heat coursed through her like a tidal wave.

 

Crowned Empress of Venus, The Flawless One. 

Rey lay in the Nepali dirt in a quiet valley, lost and alone. 

She closed her eyes and let herself fade. It was easy, like slipping into sleep.

 

_ Alpha.  _

 

Melted chocolate. Spiced liquor. Wet forest. 

Fingers of awareness clambered through her mind, imploring her to wake. She tilted her head, eyes blinking open slightly, and peeked through her heavy lids, seeking the scent that roused her. 

 

_ Alpha.  _

 

There.    
In the distance, far away - too far - a man was walking - striding - he was striding to her. 

 

She gulped a dry swallow, trying to form words, but weakness washed over her. She lay still, watching as his form drew closer. Larger.

Thick legs pounded the ground. 

His arms were loaded with wooden logs, and his scent wafted on the cold air as Rey lay in the dust on Kathmandu, willing him to come closer. 

 

_ Alpha, _ she sent to him.  _ I am here. See me. See me.  _

Her heart beat faster, and pain spiraled like a lit candle through her. She waited with tearful eyes and speeding heart as he strode her direction. 

“Ben,” her lips formed the words without sound, and he came into view. His face, his hair, his arms - she knew him by heart. There was no mistake. 

 

He walked steadily, pounding the ground into submission, and Rey watched as he scanned the ship. Bow to stern, he looked with amber eyes ringed in pitch until his gaze fell on Rey where she lay in pain, unable to speak at the foot of the ramp. 

 

Throwing the wood to the ground, he took off into a sprint, and Rey held her breath as he slid to her side. Dust clouded around them, and Rey felt herself melt into his arms. 

_ Yes. _

_ Yes.  _ _  
_ _ Alpha, yes. I’m yours. I’m yours. _

He cradled her fevered head in his hands, forehead bowed low to touch hers. The grace of his skin touching hers was heaven. She sighed into his neck, drinking her fill of his scent as he lifted her into strong arms, weighted only with the profound glory of relief. 

 

_ Safe.  _

_ Yes.  _

_ Alpha.  _

His voice was making sounds, but Rey was too far away to decipher them, too weak as she gave over to the dark. 

All that mattered now was he had found her - Rey had found her alpha, and the thick dark of sleep pulled her under. 

  
  


******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You, my dear readers, are the actual best and I love you so, so much. Your comments and support mean the actual galaxy to me.  
> If you don't know [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFsgLhx9dxg) from 2005 Pride & Prejudice, please watch. It's My AllTimeFavorite scene and I wanted to capture in very small part the beauty of him striding across the terrain towards her in one perfect, uncut shot. I hear this music in my head. 
> 
> SMUT ALERT NEXT SATURDAY WHOOP WHOOP  
> I love you guys!  
> xo  
> Berry


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter of _Flawless_...
> 
> Having convinced her lifelong friend, Briar to pose as Empress and entertain Queen regent Leia's consort pick, Poe, during the planet's week-long matchmaking extravaganza, Rey hopped a flight with Finn for New York, hoping to find her beta friend Rose. When she lands in a waterlogged New York, she is surprised to find less than ideal living situation for betas on Earth, and is disappointed when neither Rose, nor her skeptical sister, Paige, can help her locate Kathmandu. 
> 
> Not to be discouraged though, Rey is introduced to Maz, an elderly New Yorker who not only remembers Nepal, but also gives Rey some medicine to hold off her more dire heat symptoms and instructions on how to avoid the mysterious First Order on her way there. 
> 
> Landing the Falcon in the Himalayas, Rey is feverish and delirious, unable to make it much further than the ground where the Falcon lands, but her strong alpha has been waiting her, and he scoops her up before the darkness of unconsciousness drags her under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, Le Smut. AKA: earning the rating.  
> Or, in the wise words of Liz, commenter on Chapter 9: _"Rey is so out of the loop!!! I need this rectified immediately! After they bang of course. Priorities."_
> 
> Because same, girl.  
> Same.

*****

 

Phasma tied back the silk drapes.

The sky was smudged with purple, dark behind distant stars. Faint cloudfalls misted across the sky, and Rey rubbed at her eyes and stretched.

“Morning,” she muttered.

Without the clinking of a crystal tray on the polished table beside her bed, her heavy eyelids blinked slowly. She narrowed them, focusing her sight on a distant star.

 

That’s - not where the stars should be.

Rey blinked until her vision cleared and propped on an elbow.

 

“Phasma? How did - “

Her palm flew to her waist as a current of pain tore through her belly. Pain spiked high. Rey gasped and whistled a breath through pursed lips, eyes clamped tightly together. When it receded, she laid against the pillow gingerly.

She’d need to get something for the pain. Maybe Phasma could help find an antidote. Or Leia. Curling on her side, she sighed into the pillow and relaxed. Maybe a bit more rest.

The bed dipped.

Warm spice wafted on the air, and she bit back a groan. Hunger and - something like hunger twisted a whirlwind in her gut, curving between her empty spaces, demanding and insistent.

“I’m here.”

 

Her eyes flew open, round as the moon, and she jolted upright in bed. Her lips arched to a silent _o_ , hands gripping the blanket to her chest. A man sat beside her, hulking and wide. The dark room blotted out his face, but moonlight spilled out from behind thick shoulders.

A dark curl lay against a pale throat.

The cut of a fine cheek.

The shy corner of an ear.

 

_Ben._

 

One final gasp, a whimper of need and Rey dropped the blankets.

_Kathmandu._

_Ben. Alpha._

She’d made it.

 

Scrambling to her knees, her arms came around his neck and Rey threw herself into his lap. His neck, his throat - she breathed him in like she’d broken the surface of water, coming up for air. Wild and free like she’d never known before, Rey wrapped herself around him, ravenous.

“You’re here. You’re here.” Her words were muffled, muted by his skin as she pressed her lips to what scraps she could find. The pulse beneath his skin throbbed against her mouth as she nipped him hungrily.

“I’m here.” His voice rumbled through her and she kissed her way along his throat, nuzzling his jaw with her nose.

Warm hands, strong from years spent weilding a sword scooped her close. His touch roamed her back, dragging her ass into his lap. Fingers wound tightly into her hair, nails scraping. Ben tugged her hair and she pulled back, meeting his eyes.

“Nothing could keep us apart.” Before she could spill the tears that threatened, his lips were on her.

 

_Perfect. Ben. Alpha._

Everything melted.

His soft mouth was a weapon and this was tender battle.

 

He demolished every stronghold, broke down her every worthless defense. He delved inside her lips and she opened to him, moaning down his throat. His hand cradled her neck. She arched against him, reaching closer. She stretched, aching to touch as much of him as she could find, discovering and claiming. The touch of his tongue to hers swirled pleasure. She raked her nails across his back with a groan.

The crescendo of pain in her belly ripened until she broke away, panting. She pressed a fist into her belly, curving over the need and she felt him press a kiss her hairline. He inhaled deeply and she dug nails into his bare arms, corded with muscle.

He could take it.

She felt his hold tighten around her as she panted, riding the flow of pain as it coursed through her and plateaued.

 

“It hurts. Alpha, it hurts so badly, I need you, I need you. I - “

“I have what you need.”

A tear broke free, sliding down her cheek as he laid her against the bed. He was so broad, spanning her vision like a shield, keeping her safe from the three worlds outside their room.

“Shh,” he breathed. Tears slid to the edges of her eyes, rolling to her ears as she struggled to unfurl her core. Gently, he pressed a warm palm to each knee lowering her legs to the bed and he pulled the zipper of her orange jumpsuit lower.

His eyes met hers, twinkling with amusement. “This - isn’t how I am used to seeing the Empress dressed.”

Rey ran her fingers through his hair, watching him work. She rolled her hips high and he dragged the bright pants under her bottom, freeing her legs. A scrap of satin, soaked with arousal lay against her throbbing core.

He dropped the pants and ran a large hand from ankle to knee, meeting her eyes as she smiled faintly. “I want to put my hands on you.”

Rey’s eyes rolled back and she inhaled, willing herself to be calm and lay still. This was a treasure worth savoring.

“Cinnamon and honey,” he breathed as his eyes closed, inhaling. When his eyes met hers again, Rey ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him to her mouth, hungry to kiss him. She nibbled at his lips and his chest pressed against her cunt with delicious pressure. “I want you on my tongue.”

 

His hands found her pebbling nipples inside the dainty, lace cups of her camisole and her squeezed until she arched off the bed. She tangled her fingers into his hair as he nosed at the seam of her slit through her panties.

“God. Alpha. Ben, _Ben_ …” She barely recognized her drunk voice.

Thumbs grazed her breasts in tandem, anchoring her to the bed as he licked the wet satin, sucking her inside his mouth through the fabric.

 

“Let me worship at your cunt. My altar.” His eyes were on her mons and his hands never left her breasts, caressing as he took slow licks up her pulsing cunt, trapped inside her panties.

“Take me, take me.” She was dizzy with need, sick with it. Desperate noises escaped her lips, babbling she would have been embarrassed to make in anyone else’s presence.

"Mon seul amour.” He spoke to her skin, enchanted secrets he whispered to her delicate folds, and then he snagged her lace panties with his bared teeth, snarling and yanking them to her thighs.

Hungrily, he licked a swipe to open her wider, and Rey’s knees parted further. The ache that had colored her world with pain lifted like the clouds around the Beautiful Palace on Venus, dissipating like a broken spell at his touch.

Hot and wet, he laved at her core as she clenched, seeking his tongue.

“Yes, alpha - _yes, ye_ \- “ Broken and panting, she whimpered as he entered her sweetly. The wet press of his tongue inside her was an offering, and she sucked him inside greedily.

“Je suis fait pour boire ta saveur.” He met her eyes and spoke the words again while watching her eyes. “Your taste is what I am made to drink.”

His voice, his scent, the safety of his palms encompassing her breasts while he fucked his tongue up into her core - she was secure and uncaged. Soothed and adrift on a current he set. She rocked into his mouth while he licked and sucked on her cunt. He circled and pressed, kissing and sucking her clit, sweeping lower to fuck his tongue inside. His mouthed at her, seeking her taste before spreading it around her clit again in a circuit.

 

The restrictions of royal duties, the anguish of loss, the frustrations of revealed mysteries. They had coiled in Rey’s mind like a tornado of concerns, colliding with the pure rapture of deliverance by this man.

Unleashed, unbound and soaring she shattered into ribbons of ecstasy as he plunged his tongue inside her, giving her a steadfast pillar to clench around.

Heaving and panting, she came to as he rubbed kisses to her thighs. A stubbled jaw, wet lips, he looked up at her with soft eyes. Her legs were splayed wide around his huge shoulders.

 

She throbbed as he leaned to lick her once more, humming as he crawled up her body. She was satisfied and lazy in his bed, limp and open-armed.

“You were gone. I went to find you in your room and it was like you’d never been there.” The sad memory lingered, taunting her even as he crouched over her. He caged her in his embrace, crowding her, and she wound her legs through his, securing him there.

“I never would have left if they hadn’t - “ Anger kindled his voice, the unjust action not forgotten. “Forgive me,” he said quietly.

“There’s nothing to forgive. I was going to get you back one way or another.” She smiled at him for the first time in so long. She’d almost forgotten joy. He rewarded her with his own, brilliant as the sun.

“Were you?”

She nodded. “You’re mine.” She spoke hesitantly, barely a breath of her voice as she looked at him imploringly. His head dipped to her neck and he breathed deeply, drawing his arms around her waist. Drawing her closer to himself, she felt her back bow.

“Yours.”

“Mine,” she said more loudly, determined and sure. She ran a fingertip over the unbroken, silky gland at the back of his neck and he shivered. “I was always coming to you.”

When his eyes met hers they were inky black. He kissed her breathless as she lay scooped into his arms, bare breasts crushed to his tunic.

“Off - _off._ ”

She tugged at this clothing and relished the view as he pulled his clothes free. The line of his chest, the curve of his arms, his waist descending to an indecent v that led to what made him alpha...Rey let her eyes roam him selfishly.

He leaned over her and his arms landed around her. His breath fanned over her face, lips meeting hers in a kiss too sweet to bear. His licked into her mouth, tongue spicy with her own fragrance, his own scent blooming like hot chocolate and cold liquor on her tongue. Rey spread her legs wider, opening to him, inviting. She wrapped herself around his hips in the darkening night.

Stars blinked brighter in the navy sky. Clouds in the distance passed in front of the moon, dancing past mountain peaks.

 

Warmth spread through her belly, the flashing warning of impending pain.

“Closer.” She pulled his shoulders to herself, vulnerable and willing to be needy. They’d made him fight and bloody himself for her, kept him chained behind glass and sent away. With no walls between them anymore, no watching eyes or rationing measures, her ailment demanded a remedy he had and Rey couldn’t wait anymore.

“Closer,” she urged. “Please. Ben. I want you. Closer, alpha.”

Heat surged through her, ramping pain climbing inside her core, calling for him.

“My precious Empress. My only love. Dis moi que je peux me rassasier.”

 

Somewhere between a gasp and moan, she heard her own ragged breath.

She could barely see his face in the dark. His eyes were squeezed closed, shoulders shaking with a fine tremor as he balanced on one arm above her. Need surged inside her - _yes, almost, please_ \- as he nudged her entrance with a soft, blunt head.

 

“Hang onto me,” he whispered hoarsely, as he breached her with his thick cock. Rey pulled his head to her neck and he cried out into her skin, huffing as she scraped her nails against his scalp.

Light burst across the back of her eyelids, fireworks and candlelight flaming bright as he stretched her walls decadently.

She pulled him closer, clawing at his broad back and thick shoulders as he pushed inside further. Her walls tightened, and then he slid back gently, pressing deeper as she got wetter and tighter around him.

He was filling her up - no empty spaces unfilled, seeping into her pores and running in her veins more completely than her blood. He looked up from her neck and devoured her mouth with his own, taking what he wanted. His hips gently kissed hers, rocking in time until she lifted her ass and thrust on him, fucking herself on his cock.

“Deeper,” she whispered against his lips. Their fingers laced, clasped palm to palm. Ben dragged her arms overhead and ducked to mouth at her breast. He sucked a nipple into his mouth as she moaned, trapped and elated. She fucked herself on him as he licked and sucked at her breasts.

“So sweet. So pretty. I never - only you...my sweet omega - made for this…”

 

She wound her legs around him and felt him pump in earnest, deeper thrusts that made her breath catch. She mumbled encouragements, breathing in his scent as it cascaded around her in sheets of pleasure.

“C’est comme si tu t’enfoncaie dams la chaleur du solei. Brule-moi vivant.”

 

_His omega. I’m his omega._

_He wants me. He claims me, and he’s mine._

 

“Give it to me, alpha. Ben - my love, my alpha - I need it. Please.”

Hands laced, she lifted her hips and welcomed his knot, heels digging into his round ass.

“Make me feel better.” She licked her tongue at his lips, diving inside as he opened his mouth, his dark eyes squeezed shut. “Give it to me.”

 

“Rey - “ He lifted his hips to stutter into her, shoving his fat knot inside as it caught. Licking her neck, he sucked a bruise as he came inside her, filling her with his knot. He pumped his seed deeply into her body. Trembling bliss racked her body as she came on his knot a moment later, a gentle crest of ecstasy, groaning his name as she threw her head back.

 

His eyes were sparkling when she looked at him. His thumbs grazed across her knuckles as they breathed the same air, breasts scraping bare chest and lips reaching to press comfort to one another.

He stayed seated inside her, filling her womb with the warm goodness she craved, the only offering of balm that would soothe. They kissed and touched, hands roving and mouths sharing until she found herself gliding around him inside her, rhythmically.

 

“Mmmm. My good girl. My beautiful girl. My only love,” his words were music and his hard cock a tower of strong rock. She came with his name on her lips and he groaned as he filled her again.

The hours grew darker, the sky littered with stars like scattered diamonds.

Rey lay in the comfort of her alpha’s arms, fucked full of him as he licked his scent into her skin, and she fell asleep with his knot deep inside.

 

******

 

Her fingers were twisted in his dark tresses when the sun broke high behind snow-capped mountains beyond the hut’s windows.

His tongue lapped at her nipples while he rocked inside her and she hummed. He wrapped a hand around her thigh and splayed his fingers wide, pumping harder as she woke.

 

“Tout ton corps chantera mon nom.”

“What does that mean?” He kissed her lips before burying his face in her neck. She laughed at his hair tickling her skin, and gasped a breath when he fucked her harder.

“All your body will sing my name.”

 

Her arms spread above her head, stretching into the pillows while he used her up and fucked his cum inside her willing, soft body. She moaned his name and arched her back, tugging him deeper as he dug in his feet and pounded his cock inside her. She’d never been pinned by an unstoppable force like the man who she’d given herself to, and she’d never felt more liberated.

 

When he throbbed inside her, knot pulsing in her tight walls, and aid beside her in the bed he’d prepared, she watched the pale morning light dance across his fair skin.

To have ever been separated from him had been a crime for which someone would pay.

 

Her stomach rumbled right on cue.

“You’re hungry.” He raised an eyebrow and Rey blushed.

“I guess. I’m sorry - “

“Don’t be sorry.” He moved to leave the bed and Rey gripped his arm. He smirked and lifted her hand, kissing it before leaning over and kissing her lips. He tucked the woven blanket around her and ran a hand down the back of her arm.

“I’m just down the hall. Won’t be a moment.”

“You’ll be right back?”

“Right back.”

 

Rey sat up in bed waiting, tracking his movements. Beyond the bed was a galaxy of trouble, forces which had conspired to keep him from her, and she was not ready to gamble with his presence. She watched the door steadfastly until he walked back inside the small room, looming large in the small hut.

He placed a single plate overflowing with piles of colorful food on the small bench and crawled into the bed behind her, situating blankets. Rey scrambled into his lap and nuzzled under his chin. Five minutes apart had nearly been too long, and she felt raw and exposed so dependant on his return.

 

“Let me fill you up. Open.”

He scooped a pile of rice flecked with green herbs onto a wedge of flat bread and pushed thick-coated cubes beside with his fingers, licking them clean. Rey opened and he held the bite for her, popping the rest she couldn’t fit into his own mouth.

“Mmm.”

“Good?”

She nodded eagerly and swallowed in time to welcome another bite.

 

Tightly wrapped steamed vegetable packets called momos and mouthfuls of savory dal vaat, Rey ate hungrily as he patiently prepared every choice bite for her by hand, detailing the spices and flavors.

“How do you know about all this? How did you even know this place existed, Ben? Why does it even exist? How - “

She grinned around a mouthful of food as he popped another bite into her mouth and laughed at her attempt to swallow. He kissed the flavor from her lips and held a cup of fresh water when a bite was too spicy, eyes trained on her as she drank.

“It’s a long story,” he sighed. He leaned against the headboard as she rested her head against his chest once they’d finished their shared feast. “A long and complicated story. And I will tell you.”

 

Rey considered the time.

She’d been gone from Venus for three days.

Briar sat on her throne behind a borrowed veil, and Poe Dameron of Mars was being presented in hopes of becoming consort to the Venusian crown.  
Finn would be back to work as usual, the City of Grace would be celebrating a planetary-wide, week-long Grand Romance, and the Great Ball would have already taken place while Rey travelled to Earth.

 

She wondered how long it would be until Phasma realized she was gone.

How long until Leia found out.

 

A shiver ran her spine as she considered how long it would take all of Venus to understand she had absconded the planet, eschewing her crown, and whether she’d have any hope of ruling her homeland or returning at all.

She curved closer to Ben, burrowing into his side as his strong arm wrapped around her, and she closed her eyes, breathing him in. His hand landed warm and solid at the back of her neck, holding her close and she held her fears at bay a little bit longer.

The three worlds were spinning in orbit. Everything was fine.

In bed with Ben was her true home.

The sun rose higher over the Himalayas. Cotton clouds swirled around the snowy mountains, high against the bluebird sky. Rey pulled herself closer to the alpha in her bed and pushed everything else away. 

The galaxy and all it's pain would have to wait. 

 

 

END of ACT I

*********

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to @luciefee who translated a huge, pile of steaming smut into French without judgement. She is a kind and generous teammate and I would be lost without her help because French is hella hard. All mistakes are mine 100%. 
> 
> "Mon seul amour.” = _My only love_  
>  “Je suis fait pour boire ta saveur.” = _Your taste is what I am made to drink._  
>  "Dis moi que je peux me rassasier.” = _Tell me I can take my fill._  
>  “C’est comme si tu t’enfoncaie dams la chaleur du solei. Brule-moi vivant.” = _You are like sinking into the heat of the sun. Burn me alive._  
>  “Tout ton corps chantera mon nom.” = _I will make your body sing my name._
> 
>  
> 
> Next Saturday begins Act II.  
> Every word you guys send me is a treasure and gift and I am immeasurably grateful.  
> Love you guys!  
> xo  
> Berry


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up.

 

 

 

 

ACT II

*******  


 

Rosy sunbeams stretched beyond sparkling mountain peaks.

The sweltering pain in her belly was smothered.

 

Rey rolled into the silken linens, smiling languidly. She’d never known a more delicious morning. Nothing from a Venusian kitchen was as luscious as Nepali curry from her alpha’s hands, no feeling as delicious as his love and strength seeping through her bones. Hidden among Himalayan peaks, toasty despite the crystal, snow-capped summit standing guard beyond their hut, Rey rested. Utter contentment flowed idly through her veins. She’d found him and taken what was hers.

 

Every fiber inside her was fulfilled, chanting satisfaction.

 

She rested her cheek on Ben’s chest and inhaled, planting the memory of his scent deeply. Spicy forest, cinnamon and vanilla. The mingled fragrance of their union clung to his skin. Rey traced the line of soft hair from his chest to his navel. The faint trail that led to his thick cock was hers alone. One fingertip played lightly, and she grinned when the linens twitched, a dead giveaway of his interest.

 

His eyes were velvet brown when she lifted her head, chin resting on his chest. A crooked smile she already knew by heart graced his handsome face, strong and serene in the morning light. She grazed the dusting of hair with her nails and felt a large hand land around the back of her head.

 

“How are you feeling?”

“Good. So much better.”

The corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled more brightly, pleased to be her hero. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” She shook her head and snuck her hand below the sheets. The crisp curls there would smell like her if she buried her nose in them. A wicked smile slid across her lips. She bit her lip and wrapped a hand around him, digging her teeth into flesh when he inhaled sharply.

“Empress - “

“Yes, my alpha?”

His hand tightened in her hair. She dragged her naked breasts against his flank as their legs tangled in the covers, twisting into one another. He pulsed in her hand.

“If you - do you want - “

“I’ll show you what I want.”

 

Pushing the linens away, her eyes landed on his hardening cock. Ripe. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, masculine energy radiating off him as he watched her. A swipe of the full head and he throbbed in her palm, groaning, nails scraping her scalp. Rey grinned and opened her mouth.

He was better than dessert.

Better than life.

 

With her mouth full of his cock, she wrapped a hand gently around his knot, gratified to suck moans from his body.

“Come here, give me a taste of you.“

He lifted her hips over his face, and Rey’s knees landed beside his ears. She gasped around his cock as he spread her wide with his thumbs. A lick of his tongue against her clit, a dip into her core, a suck of his mouth at her cunt and she was adrift.

 

She lowered her head again, long licks up his shaft to wet him fully before plunging him inside her throat, and Rey sucked him inside. The perfection was unreal. She rocked into his mouth in time with her head bobbing his length, nearly unconscious. Sublime, transcendent, wet from cunt to mouth and full of him, fucked and rocking and handled. His hands roamed her hips and ass, kneading skin as he nipped and mouthed at her, sucking her whole cunt into his mouth as she moaned her approval.

 

Salty, musky essence coated her tongue, and she lapped it up hungrily. Filthy, divine, he was a god and she was going to drain his might until he was her captive. Until she was his slave.

 

“Yes, alpha, oh yes. Fill me, fill me up - I need it, please.”

She paused, panting while he fucked his fingers inside her, wider and deeper.

This was what she needed. How could they have kept him from her? Surely, she would die without him. Nothing could be clearer. She was made for him, for this, for the glory of his body buried deeply inside her. He gave her strength she never knew she had, confidence she’d only pretended to feel before.

Hungrily, she ran a tongue around his length, lifting her hips in time. The wet heat of his mouth at her core, the thick slide of his cock in her mouth mirrored the wild beating of her heart. His hands squeezed her ass, holding her off the the bed as he lifted his head from the pillow. Rey twisted to see him reach for her, desperate and clutching. He was using her just like he wanted.

 On Venus she was an Empress. On Earth she was an outsider, but here in this bed she was an omega, and her alpha was coming undone.

Her back swayed as she presented herself to him, settling back over his shaft with renewed fervor. Licking and sucking, she gripped him tightly at the base, fingers tight over his knot. His deeply rumbling groans only made her speed up, and her hips bounced strongly, cunt tugging on his fingers inside her.

There were words. He was murmuring incantations or prayers or love songs into her skin, but Rey heard nothing but her own shuddering climax.

Starbursts spiraled behind her eyes. Her back arched into a tight arrow. When she caught her breath, his hands on her hips held her to the Earth, and Rey scooted down his chest. Limp as a ragdoll, she trembled as he positioned her, climbing behind her.

 

In another world she was pacified, entertained, deceived.

In this bed she was worshipped, sheltered, adored.

 

It was no dishonor to plant her palms on the mattress, kneeling with her ass in the air in front of her alpha. Not when she wanted him inside her, ached for him so fully she quaked with anticipation. Not when she felt his desire and warmth more fiercely than the flames around the coals in the corner of their room. Not when she trusted him as she trusted no other, a faith in him more complete than an ancient religion, a holy sacrament, an angelic being.

When his hands gripped her, stabilizing her before he fucked into her, she gave herself over to it. To let go - to surrender - to enjoy the carefree heaven of relying on her man, her alpha...was a relief more potent than his seed in her heated womb, and just as lifesaving.

“Mon seul amour. Mon unique - precious - divine - my omega.” She closed her eyes in free abandon to his voice and his body.

His hands were on her hips, running the length of her curving spine, cupped around her shoulders as he held her in place. Finally, wrapping her braid around his hand, he tugged her back against his chest and palmed her breast.

“You’re mine.”

“Yes, alpha.”

Her thighs quivered when he licked her swollen gland, tracing the edge with his tongue before sucking tenderly.

“Please - please, Ben - alpha, please - “ She whimpered, placing a hand over his huge arm as he tweaked her hard nipple. His teeth should break her skin as his cock had broken her body, and she would be his in every way. Rey held her breath as he pulled her braid, clasping her breast. He came apart, her name a broken whisper on his lips.

His knot took hold and Rey collapsed into his arms as he leaned back, heaving. Her head pillowed by his arm, she curled into the bed as he curved around her. A pair. Not mated.

 

Her heart sank gently, even as she felt him behind her, the press of his chest expanding with fresh air.

His hand was still cupped around her breast posessively, his breathing even again. She nuzzled into the pillow and beat away the doubt - why not? why not? - as peace settled in the hut like a thick blanket of falling snow.

He was _hers_.

She had come for him, and taken him, and he was _hers_. She felt it. She _knew_ it. There would be time and answers to her questions when she woke.

  


******

  


“Rey.”

 His voice tolled, resonating like a bell. It lingered in the darkening room while Rey blinked lazily and rolled onto her back. Fire popped behind the grate, and she sat up with a shiver.

 

“What time is it?”

Ben looked through the window and nodded. “Afternoon.”

The sun was higher than the shimmering peaks, and Rey relaxed. She hadn’t missed too much daylight. Her thoughts spun, counting the hours she’d been away from Venus before she recalled them like a boomerang. Not yet.

“Hungry?”

She nodded and Ben plucked a maroon berry from a ceramic bowl on his knee, holding it to her lips. It burst bright and sweet on her tongue, and she licked her lips with a hum. “What’s this?”

“Bay-berries. Local fruit to Nepal.”

She accepted another bite and caught his finger, nibbling gently with a chuckle as he snatched his hand away.

“Nepal. Ben, why are we here? How did you find this place?”

He held up a fuzzy, red berry and Rey watched his eyes. He swallowed and shifted the bowl on his thigh. She opened her mouth and bit into the tender berry’s flesh. His fingers were stained as he dug into the bowl for another.

“I’ve been to Earth. Many times. On missions.”

Rey watched his eyes on the fruit, sorting with nimble fingers for the best morsel before offering it to her. She took it gingerly, eyes trained on his face. He watched her lips, mouth twitching in imitation.

“Missions?”

Ben nodded. “For Snoke. Our leader.”

“What kind of missions?”

“Supply missions, mostly,” he shrugged without meeting her eyes. “There are parts of the Earth Snoke can still access fairly easily. Parts all but obliterated by the War.” He popped a berry into his own mouth and placed the bowl on the bedside table. “We help.”

“You...help. Help what?”

He shrugged again and pulled Rey against his chest as he situated himself against the headboard. “Infrastructure. Security. Reconstruction maintenance.”

 

His heart beat under Rey’s ear, steady and strong. Solid arms locked around her, tucking loose hair behind her ear. Something was missing, a piece of information lacking.

“This place shouldn’t exist. Or - rather, most people don’t know it exists anymore.” She looked up at Ben, and he gazed past her, out the window.

“Most people believe what makes them feel safe.”

“I am not most people - “ He met her eyes and she leaned back to fix her gaze on him with intention. “Of course we all want to be safe, but I want the truth. I am responsible for the care of my people.”

He held her gaze before looking out the window again.

“Truth is subjective.” He brushed her hair from her neck, pressing a kiss to her temple. “And safety an illusion.”

 

Rey leaned back further and cocked her head. “Truth is…” her brows knit. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head sadly. “Truth is what you’ve been taught. One teacher’s version of reality. History is written by the winners. Their version prevails.”

 

Rey watched his eyes as they tracked the drowsy clouds. Tension was drawn into his brows and he laid a hand on Rey’s knee as he smiled softly at her.

 

“The First Order has been peacekeeping on Earth for dozens of years, almost since the Split. I routinely travel from Mars to oversee management.”

Rey took his hand in both of hers, stilling his movements so she could concentrate. She’d been threatened by the hotel concierge with the First Order police two days prior. If Ben was involved with them, she needed to understand more about this.  
“Management. Ben - “ Rey untangled her legs from his and faced him more fully. She squared her shoulders. “The treaty clearly stipulates Earth as beta jurisdiction. Alphas have no authority here. What are you talking about?”  
“Betas are betas, Rey. You know that as well as I do.”

Her nose scrunched as she narrowed her eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means we are alphas, and we do what needs to be done. As usual.”

“What alphas _should do_ is stay on Mars and leave the Earth to be inhabited by the betas who it was left to. Not usurp the treaty and impose on a world recovering from the War, hiding so Venusians can’t hold them accountable.”

“Woah. Woah, woah, Empress. Hang on.” Rey’s chest was tightening, cheeks flushing as she debated. Ben tugged her arms loose from where she had folded them across her breasts and smiled gently. “I’m not the enemy here.”

He was right. Right and so very near. This was a serious issue, but Ben was not the one to punish. He was the messenger, not the usurper.

 

“I’m sorry.”

Rey reached a hand to cup his jaw and smoothed her lips to his. He tasted like bay-berries and sex. She nuzzled her nose to his before breaking away, looking into his eyes. “Sorry.”

“I understand. You’re upset. This is a paradigm shift, I take it.”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, I can’t unscramble the entire setup for you right now, but I can tell you I’ve worked for the good of the entire solar system.”

 

Rey watched his fingers trace patterns on her palm.  

“Our Leader is wise. He has a plan.”  His tone was certain, the words of indoctrination vivid.

She wondered about the power of suggestion, whether it was only available to omegas as she’d been taught. Whether any alphas had the same gift. In the wrong hands, it could be catastrophic. She thought of the hotel again, of the threat to call the FO police.

 

_He’s not who you think he is._

_He killed my mate._

 

She struggled to tamp down the anxiety as it bubbled hot into her throat. The Venusian Empress would never be sullied by a killer as consort, but Ben had admitted to nothing. Rey took a deep breath and raised her chin. Her voice shook as she spoke.

“But you...you’re an alpha. _My_ alpha. Raised on Mars to wage a tournament for the hand of the Venusian Empress. Not a - a - “ Her throat constricted.

  


“I was raised to be be a warrior, but alphas also oversee refurbishment while waiting invitation from Venus. We have needed some occupation after all, Empress.”

Rey felt her heart flutter as she met his eyes. She scooted further away, breathing through her mouth as her head swam with his scent, amused and aroused.

“Yes, but - “

“You thought we were all fighting full-time, waiting to present ourselves to the Empress after coronation? We were.”

Rey opened her mouth to speak, but Ben interrupted. “ _And,_ we were keeping peace on Earth. Rebuilding. One day, we’d need a home for all the mated couples in the solar system, what better place to start over than our home planet?”

“Ben, you are to live on Venus. On Aphrodite Terra. We all are. Once the Grand Romance has ended, and all the mated couples are approved the domed City of Love was to be inhabited by us. All of us.”

“For a season. Yes.”

 

Rey peered at him intently, mouth open in confusion. “Not for a season. For good!”

“Rey, we were just thinking ahead. Don’t punish me for proactive measures.”

She shook her head, eyes squeezed shut. His hand was warm as he caressed her knee. There would be time to decide where they were to live later, once all this was over. It didn’t matter.

 

“I never knew about alphas rebuilding Earth. I can see why you wouldn’t want to live on Venus where your...where the queen regent still holds sway over the people.”

The angle of his jaw sharpened as he clenched his teeth together under smooth skin.

“I always knew it was coming. I knew I’d face her again.”

Rey paused. His pain came so close to the surface, she could almost see it stamped inside his eyes. She chewed her lip and waited.

“You‘re my alpha. I belong with you.”

 

His eyes were softer and his bare chest heaved as he exhaled fully. “I have never had a home. Not Mars. Not Venus. Not Earth. I was raised to love no one and fight for my life. I have done - “ he gulped and looked past her, focusing on a spot beyond her shoulder, “things. Painful things.” He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “You are the only real truth I have ever known.”

It broke her heart to rest her forehead to his, struggling to deny herself what she most wanted to ask.

_What things? What things have you done? Have you killed? Or worse?_

 

“They’re betas. Useless, essentially. Without us, they wouldn’t survive.”

“People are not useless, Ben. They are valuable and good.”

He took her face in his hands and rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks. “My sweet woman, people are wicked and selfish. They’ll only lie and steal what is yours. They’ve stolen your free will and your alpha, and you still maintain their goodness.”

 

“But, Ben,” she began gently when he had leaned his head against the headboard, eyes on the ceiling,  “Mars jeopardizes the treaty with these actions. Alphas are to live solely on Mars and visit Earth only for education. We shouldn’t even be here right now. This shouldn’t even exist!”

“Treaties are living documents, Rey. They evolve as humanity evolves or else they are obsolete.”

“This is why you think truth is subjective. What else are they teaching you?”

His hands ran through his hair as he sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “None of this even matters now. We’re together. That’s all that matters.”

“Of course it matters. Truth always matters.”

 

Her throat tightened as she closed her eyes, pressing into her worst fears.

“The queen regent’s mate. Your father...is it true?”

The fire crackled as Rey waited. Ben held her gaze before lifting his chin to look out the window.

 

“You did,” she whispered, feeling the truth erupt in a torrent of inescapable pain. “It’s true.”

He reached for her, and she shrugged away.

“She told me, but I refused to believe her. I thought - “ She wailed once and then turned to face him. He loomed over her, wordless and tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know you.”

“You do. You could.”

“You killed him. Why?”

“I had to. If I was to have a chance to come and fight for the Empress - to find you I had to.”

Tears slid down her cheeks. Ben moved closer and she fumbled to make space between them.

“He was a beta.”

“He was your _father._ ”

“Who sent me away.”

 

_He isn’t who I thought. Leia was right._

 

He looked her in the eye and pulled her close, planting a kiss to her forehead. “This is how it was always supposed to be, Rey. At any cost.” She stiffened in his arms.

“Win the tournament. Marry the Empress. Balance the solar system,” he said.

Her brow furrowed.

“That was my mission.”

 

Slowly, she pulled back from his embrace. “What did you say?”

“My mission. You.”

“You said the Empress. Marry the Empress.”

“Yes...and you are her.”

“But, what if I wasn’t?”

“You are.”

“But, if I wasn’t?”

 

Ben searched her eyes. “I was to marry the Empress. This is my mission since youth. I am the alpha Champion. I was always going to go this way.”

Rey drew away further, spiraling inside herself. Her head throbbed uneasily, and she dragged the linens over her chest.

“This is where you would have ended up with the Empress.” She motioned to the room around them. The fire flickered among the coals, and the sun shined brightly as it dipped to the mountain peaks in the distance. “This - all this. You would have belonged to another omega.”

“I was determined to mate with the Venusian Empress. Yes. But Rey - “ he gripped her by the shoulders as tears threatened to spill, “I knew it had to be you. The moment I saw you in New York. I hoped it was you from that moment on.”

She met his eyes as her lip trembled. “And I wanted it to be you. I hoped, but I did my duty to my people. I was upholding the treaty. As soon as you won, my heart was yours.”

Ben ran his hands down her arms, and she pulled free. “I played by the rules. I had no ulterior motive. What was your goal if not to uphold the treaty? Was it all a ploy? Is this all a ploy?”

She climbed from the bed, heart raging.

 

“Were you...did you really win the tournament? Was that even real?”

 

Ben’s eyes shifted between hers. He licked his lips and Rey scrambled out of bed. _Foolish. Blind. Stupid._

She tugged on her panties and bra quickly, yanking the discarded tank top over her head. Ben was by her side in a moment. She struggled with the jumpsuit as he vied for her attention.

 

“Rey. Wait.” He boomed an alpha command at her, and she met his eyes.

“I would have done my duty and taken the Empress, yes - but I would have always found you. Rey, you have to believe that.”

“As what? Your whore?”

 

_No._

 

The thought was as powerful as she could make it, twirled around itself like a whirlwind, and Rey let it fly into him at full force. He took a step backward as Rey advanced.

 

“Don’t do that to me,” he said, steadying himself.

“Don’t command me!” she seethed as a torrent raged inside, holding his gaze fiercely.

 

“Rey, I would have done what needed to happen, but I would still have been with you. I felt it. What’s between us - I felt it in New York that day. Nothing would have stopped me from finding you and being with you. Nothing.”

“Not even the Empress, were I not her? Not even Snoke?”

His hands were on her shoulders and she shrugged them off at his silence. She pulled the orange jumpsuit to her waist and tugged the sleeves over her arms. With the locket tucked against her chest, zipping herself in, she was insulated. Safe. Protected.

 

“You would have her as wife and mate, no matter who the Empress was. This means nothing to you.”

“How can you say that?” he roared. “After all we have shared? You came to me, Rey. You’re mine.”

“It’s not real,” she whined, furiously wiping tears as she tugged on boots. “This isn’t real.”

 

Ben paced the room, hands running through his hair. He stopped and pointed a finger at Rey as she stood.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t won the tournament?”

“I would have upheld the treaty.”

“Then uphold the treaty now. I am the tournament champion. I am your alpha. Stay with me now.”

His nostrils flared and he took a step towards her with palms open. “I have always known what was expected of me. To fight and kill and scrape my way to the Empress.”

 

She cried in anguish, burying her face in her hands as she turned from him.

“Rey.”

“She was right,” her voice was cracked and her heart bleeding, devastation coloring her words like ash. “I can’t trust you.”

 

She stepped towards the door and he followed.

“No. Rey, no. Listen to me - “

“I can’t trust a word you say, Ben. Your truth is subjective. You only want to complete your mission.”

“Please. Rey - “

“I will uphold the treaty and stay if you will do the same. Remove the alphas from Earth. Dismantle the First Order. Prove to me what you say is true, and you don’t seek to manipulate me, to use me for my crown.”

 

He held her gaze and his mouth moved, but no words escaped his lips. Every muscle in her body tightened, ready to embrace him, but he stood frozen.

“ _Please,_ Ben.”

 

Her belly turned in the ghost of a cramp, and she took a step away. The sun had fallen behind the mountains, golden arms reaching for the dusky sky.

“You're right. I have a choice. I am the Empress of Venus, ruler of the omegas and I choose for myself.”

 

She moved towards the door and his hand slammed against the wood, holding it closed. His face buried in her neck, a strong arm wound around her waist.

“Rey. Please. Listen to me, don’t do this. We belong to one another. You said it yourself. This is right. Whatever came before, however it happened doesn’t matter. That is the only truth I need, the only truth I know.”

 

There were no tears when she tugged his heavy arm from her waist and pulled the door handle. Shoulders back, chin up she walked as regally as she’d ever practiced with Phasma.

“Let me go. Please,” she looked away from his face. “Let me go.”

 

She held her breath and ran.

Her gulps drained the small medicine bottle Maz had given her when she collapsed into the pilot’s seat on the Falcon. Sniffling tears and choking back sobs, she pushed and switched buttons until the old ship purred to life. It lifted from the dusty Kathmandu ground smoothly, swerving around the snowy peaks as it soared into the dark sky.

 

Stars glittered, but Rey didn't see them. She blinked back tears and trained her eyes away. She wouldn’t look back. Not if she wanted to leave.

The love of her life was maybe watching - maybe waiting, seeing her fly off, and Rey’s heart was already shattered. She’d never withstand it. The Falcon broke atmo and she felt the dizzy buzz of sleep knocking. She closed her eyes, drawing knees to her chest, and wiped her final tears on the orange jumpsuit.

 

_Take me away._

Like a cocoon around her shoulders, she shielded herself with suggestion. Against every world that would use and manipulate her. Safe and alone, she hurtled through the night air. She slipped into sleep to find him in her dreams, remembering his arms around her - his scent - his mouth - and her head drooped to her chest as the black of space crept around the ship.

  _Take me away._

  


*************

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not despair.  
> Time for some character development. 
> 
> I'll fix it. 
> 
> Sorry this is late, arguments are hard as hell for me to write, harder than anything.  
> xoxox  
> Berry
> 
> Next chapter Tuesday April 9


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the last chapter of _Flawless_...
> 
> Rey and Ben enjoyed a weekend staying heated in the snowy Himalayan mountains together. They bonded over curry and local berries, only to have a lover's quarrel over politics and differing opinions about running the solar system. Rey was annoyed that Ben wasn't married to the idea of upholding the treaty, and Ben wasn't too impressed with the omega notion of an inter-designation, intergalactic rendition of Kumbaya. 
> 
> She took off in the Falcon, bummed and alone, and I dodged tomatoes.  
> Kidding. 
> 
> This moves us forward to some more action...

Chapter 12

 

Cloudfalls never changed.  
Everything else around might be insecure. Unreliable. Fictitious.

Cloudfalls were constant.

 

Rey watched the pinkish haze blow around the ship. Her head bounced against the headrest when the transport broke atmo. The City of Grace sat proud, impervious to the billowing mist. Finn steered them wordlessly to the port, flipping switches and checking gauges. Rey’s eyes slipped closed, trapping tears before they fell. She took a deep breath and gripped the armrests. The landing gear rumbled to life below her seat - she was back.

Alone.

She gulped around a painful lump in her throat as she squeezed tears away, trying to forget leaving him - leaving Kathmandu without him.

 

When she opened her eyes, blinking furiously to disguise emotion, the clouds wafted around the ship fully. A lengthy exhale, and she granted herself one more moment to remember before leaving the safety of anonymity for royal duty.

 

“I’m coming with you.”

She’d unfolded her legs, striding towards Finn in the hangar. She had waited for hours and her legs were cramped. As soon as she saw the Venusian ship, she’d stood and wiped the grit from her pants. Her tears were long gone.

 

“Rey!” His surprise had broken the silence, and he’d tugged her into a fierce embrace. “What are you doing here? What about - where’s - have you been crying?”

He’d held her at arm’s length, cataloging her puffy eyes and pink-tipped nose. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Where’s - “

She’d shaken her head, dismissive and final. Lifting her eyes to the ship behind him, she pulled free. “I’m coming with you. To Venus.”

“But what about - “

“Please, Finn. Don’t ask me - I can’t “ She’d turned to step onto the transport ship. The dip of her shoulders was pronounced, sadness cloaking her form like a visible shawl. “Please don’t ask me.”

  
  


The Falcon had deposited Rey faithfully at the place where she’d begun. She’d shoved her urgent plea - _take me away_ \- and powerful omega suggestion at the control panel, and the ship lifted from the Himalayas. Maz’s tonics had mercifully dragged her to sleep as the Earth disappeared from the viewport.

It wouldn’t have mattered if Rey had woken in New York or New Washington. What mattered was who she’d left behind. And why.

 

There had been time to think. Hours. Countless, silent hours.

Sitting against the bare hangar wall, legs folded into a pretzel while she gnawed a tasteless protein ration bar, Rey had time.

Doubt. Guilt.

Indignation. Pain.

The cycle repeated, leaving her more confused than she’d been during their argument. She replayed the words, arguing his side and then her own. Remembering his anguished face, pleading with her to stay.  She imagined his expression when she’d left, flown to the stars only moments after being in his strong arms.

 

He would have mated the Empress of Venus, no matter who she was.

Rey would have done the same - mated the tournament champion no matter the winner. It made her uneasy, but no denying - she knew it. Her motive would have been peace in the solar system - upholding the treaty - safety for all omegas.

If his goal wasn’t the same, and she’d teased apart enough to understand it wasn’t...what would his goal have been?

What would Mars want with the Venusian crown if not peace?

 

It was shattering. Rey tried to work it out - to absolve him - but, she sat twisted in knots, staring at a blank wall, instead.

 

Arms around her knees, she sat wordlessly. Wondering whether he’d watched. Whether she’d hurt him. She’d chewed through the pain till it was intolerable, until she remembered she was his mission, his occupation, until the pain bled and she cried fresh tears.  
Wide-eyed and weary of crying, she’d sat staring at the far wall of the empty airship hangar until Finn’s transport beeped its arrival, and she’d shaken herself from a stupor.

 

The cloudfalls spilled around the ship in an endless, tumbling dance as Rey walked into the Beautiful Palace. She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with the familiar lilac scent of recirculated air, and bit her lip to keep from frowning.

Nothing had changed. Her life had begun and ended on Earth, but nothing on Venus looked different.

The borrowed, orange jumpsuit was stuffed beneath a bench in the ship’s cargo hold, and Rey slipped into her midriff gown and crystal sandals in the antechamber.

 

She couldn’t trust the woman in the mirror. The woman in the mirror had looked into the eyes of her alpha. She’d been handled and adored, fed and devoured. Accusations flooded her as she pushed bracelets over her wrists and looped the gown’s train over her arm.

 

 _You left your love! You left him! Fool!_ _Arrogant, cold-hearted girl!_

Rey could hear her taunting heart without meeting her eyes in the mirror. Her gaze landed everywhere else.

Messy tendrils, a smudge of grease, an errant lock of hair - she steadily avoided her own eyes.

 

Her hand found her locket, and she wrapped a palm around it.

 _Ben._  A cry caught - _Ben Ben_ \- but, she stifled it, muzzled like so many other glowing demands she’d smothered. Insistent flames clawed her spine like burning jet fuel.

 _Later._ She carefully averted her eyes and steeled herself.

_Shoulders back, head high._

 

The dark night sky swallowed the glass walkway. Rey stepped lightly, chin raised as she made her way inside the castle walls. Court was asleep, tucked beneath starry canopies beside heaven-scented alphas.

 

No one heard the Empress glide the dark palace halls. Her absence hadn’t shaken the skies. No one confronted her impatiently as she slunk back home from a dead world.

Beyond Venus, a sister planet spun lazily around the same sun, carrying the thief of her heart. She barely breathed, steps landing soft as whispers on the polished stairwell.

She crept stealthily, willing herself not to tear into a run when she saw the door to her room, and she exhaled her anxiety as it closed behind her.

 

The palace slept undisturbed, endless clouds the only witness to the Flawless One’s homecoming.

 

******

 

Pale, yellow light glinted between swaying tree boughs.

Rey smiled languidly, rolling over on the crisp linens of the bed. The heady scent of tilled soil and toasty warmth floated around her. She squinted up at the golden sunshine spilling between swaying branches and smiled peacefully.

 

“Rey,” he said. He spoke her name like no one else. Like a caress. “Rey.”

Morning bloomed and Rey stretched, looping arms around her alpha’s broad shoulders. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, nosing at his jaw. A stubbled shadow lined his chin and lips, a hint of masculinity surrounding plush lips made for kissing.

“Rey.”

If she could just open her eyes she could find his lips and kiss them. See his smile. Run her hands into his long hair and fall into his dark eyes. “Mon seul amour,” he would say. “I called to you across the galaxy. I need you,” he would say. “Only you.”

“Rey.”

 

The bright shock of morning shook her awake.

 

Briar stood, gently shaking her shoulder. Rey sat up slowly, brushing the dream away.

_He’d been so close - so real -_

She stood and wrapped arms around Briar, pulling her close, chin landing on her friend’s shoulder. Eyes squeezed shut to the lingering image of her love in bed beneath green trees, she banished the forest dream. Briar’s slim arms hugged her tightly, pulling her into reality. Rey hugged her back, stepping away to find her friend’s eyes as she refused to remember the embrace of her alpha.

“You’re home! Already! And how did it - “ Briar’s voice faltered as Rey’s smile wilted. “No. No - what happened?”

Clasping hands, they melted into the chaise together, heads bowed in hushed conspiracy.

“It didn’t - I mean we _did_ , but he didn’t - “

“But you did?”

“Yes.”

“But, he didn’t - “

“No.”

“But, you’re here now. So, are you going back to him?”

 

Rey’s eyes welled with tears at the concern on her friend’s face, and she buried her face in her hands. “Oh, Rey.”

Briar wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Rey cried quietly, wiping her nose on her lacy train. She itched for a bath. Lace imprints tattooed her skin from a night spent curled into a chair so as not to wake Briar, and her belly rumbled for food, but the heat in her core had subsided.

 

“Here.” Rey opened her eyes and accepted the tissue Briar handed her. “What happened?” She opened her mouth to speak, but a knock at the door made her gasp.

“Phasma!” she hissed. “Cover for me!”

Scrambling under the bed, Rey watched as Briar’s feet disappeared. The bed creaked when Briar dove onto the mattress a second before Phasma’s heeled boots clicked into the room. Her governess tugged back the curtains and Rey curled tighter beneath the bed, flattening herself into the rug.

 

“Good morning, your Beauty.”

Rey held her breath, watching Phasma’s feet as they moved around the room.

“Still pouting, I see? Fabulous.” Disdain dripped from her words as Briar remained silent. “And now we’ve taken to hiding beneath the covers like a spoiled baby? Endlessly amusing.” She sounded positively repulsed. Rey bit her lip to keep from snickering, amused at Phasma’s offense at being ignored.

“You know Rey, I don’t appreciate the silent treatment.” Phasma’s boots stilled on the thick carpeting and Rey tracked her movements. “Still nothing to say?” Phasma said, pausing before adding, “hmm?”

The clock ticked loudly in the corner and voices in the hall called as Phasma waited for an answer. “I don’t know why _I’m_ being punished with your silence,” she huffed, noisily snapping a newspaper open for the woman in Rey’s bed. “I'm not the one who sent him away.”

 

There would need to be amends made and situations explained to Phasma when this was all said and done, that much was certain. Rey made a mental note to be extra kind when she was Empress again.

“I’ll remind you again, Rey, I am not the enemy, and neither is Leia. It would do your relationship wonders if you would lunch with her today, since you can’t be bothered to speak to her otherwise.”

The room was silent as Phasma waited. She placed a tray beside the bed and Rey studied her boots. Her heart thudded against her rib cage, and she swallowed hard.

“Fine. But remember this, the treaty is in jeopardy until the matter of your consort is settled. Grand Romance or no, this is a matter of state and safety, and it must be addressed.”

She heaved a disgusted grunt at the silence that met her speech and stomped to the door, tossing a warning over her shoulder. “Your champion will be here in an hour, your Beauty. Brush your hair for Goddess’ sake.” She muttered as she slammed the door too hard. “Must be a rat’s nest under those sheets.”

 

Phasma’s steps faded and Rey climbed out from under the bed, dragging the heavy dress with her. She let out a breath and planted a hand over her heart, relieved and exhausted. Flinging herself into the comfortable bed, she blinked up at the sky for a moment. No green tree boughs waved overhead, no handsome alpha beside her pillow.

“Listen,” Briar said. Her eyes flew to the closed door before leaning in and meeting Rey’s eyes. “I’m actually relieved you’re home. I need your help,” she said, rubbing her lips nervously as she glanced around and ducked her head again. “We have a problem.”

Another knock sounded. D’acy and Kaydel’s voices chimed past the door.

“Talk later?”

Briar nodded and raced to the en suite bath. Rey waited for Briar to be safely away before calling an apathetic greeting as a welcome, leaning passively against the sumptuous pillows of the Empress’ bed. Her weary body had no trouble conveying lethargy and sadness. Fed, bathed and dressed by her ladies-in-waiting, Rey was powdered and perfumed by the time the day’s events began, and no one was the wiser for her absence.

She schooled her features into bored acceptance as her brain fired feverishly to make sense of the mess.

 

The list of things to sort was spiraling into a never-ending queue.

 

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this chapter was a couple days late - I was kidnapped by IRL besties for a Girl's Weekend and it was refreshing and amazing! To make it up to you, the next chapter will be *this* Saturday, as usual, and we'll see the Grand Romance happening on Venus in person, hear from Ben and get a hint at what's to come. 
> 
> Thank you, my sweet friends! Every comment and chapter hit are gifts I am endlessly grateful for! Promise I'll get to comments ASAP!  
> xoxo,  
> Berry


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is on Venus, separated from her alpha who detests betas, potentially killed his father, and maybe wants to use her for the Venusian crown, but he's hawt and she's annoyed.  
> The Grand Romance is underway, and the Empress is about to fuck shit _up_.

 

Chapter 13 

 

“Holy goddess of mercy…”

One step inside her room, and Kaydel’s hand flew to her chest in horror as she stared at Rey. Crumpled bedsheets at her waist, greasy hair, heavy bags beneath her eyes. The Venusian Empress was a ghostly queen seated in her unmade bed.

“No wonder you’ve been under that veil for days. You look rough.”

“Kay!” D’acy chided.

Kaydel briefly executed a micro-curtsey as she rounded the bed, smiling tightly at Rey. “Sorry, your Beauty, but you’re a mess.”

Pillows swallowed her eagerly when Rey sank back against them. She sighed and stared at the ceiling. Her head swam with priorities and question marks. Briar, Leia, Ben and the Grand Romance - demands jostled for attention as she ignored the ladies tittering around her bedside.

“I’ll run a bath,” D’acy said, heading for the bathroom. Rey opened her mouth to protest, hoping Briar had climbed through the window to the balcony, but she closed it with a squeak when D’acy shouted over the solar water as it poured into the tub in a rush. “We’ll fix you up in a jif, your Beauty! Don’t you worry! A little scrub and a soak and you’ll feel yourself again.”

Rey stepped into her slippers, dropped beside the bed and slipped a silk robe over her babydoll gown. Kay tsked as she shuffled to the bathroom, determinedly avoiding her visage in her vanity mirror.

She didn’t want to see the woman staring back at her - alone, without her alpha. Only a broken heart and a lost eyes staring back.

“S’gonna take more than a jif,” Kaydel muttered, yanking the covers over Rey’s vacant bed.

 

She was failing.

Tears filled her weary eyes as she stopped walking, defeat swelling inside her heart. She was the Flawless One. Ruler of the omega goddess of Venus, expected to reign in perfect beauty and grace, the epitome of feminine strength and supreme glory. A sniffle escaped. Her shoulders sagged under the expectations.

She was one human woman in need of her man and some answers, in either order, and her heart had been shattered only the day before.

 

“Oh - oh, I’m so sorry, your Beauty.” Kaydel hovered as Rey lifted her chin and met her eyes. “That was rude. Forgive me.”

“It’s alright Kaydel. I just -” She considered her words carefully and watched the young woman’s eyes, wondering how much to share. “I just miss my alpha.”

Understanding between them reverberated like a bell, and Kaydel’s face softened from atonement to sympathy.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

“And you...the other alpha? I thought you liked the commander. You’ve been so quiet, but I thought...He’s not to your liking? I mean - you can’t…?”

Her question hung in the air and Rey smiled weakly. Enough asking for sympathy from her staff. Two strong, handsome alphas to choose from was a good problem to have. Everyone had concerns of their own, alphas to mate and a new city to populate. Rey sniffed loudly and looped an arm through Kaydel’s as she headed for the bath.

“We’ll see. It’s all going to work out. I’m sure of it. Don’t worry,” Rey assured her.

They stepped into the humid room as D’acy poured rose essence into the swirling, scented water. Rey slid into the warmth and inhaled the floral aroma. The heavenly grip of familiar comfort slipped around her like a hug, and Rey’s eyes closed in relief. Everything about this was good.

“Just need a hot bath and a good meal, your Beauty,” D’acy said as hot water ran through Rey’s tangled hair, tickling her scalp. “You’ll be right as Earth’s rain.”

 

******

 

Powdered and braided, Rey swept through the halls in layered gossamer. The glide of her ruby lips reminded her not to lick them nervously, demanding her body’s tension stay trapped in a regal pose.

The wings at her back hung heavy, a twin weight to the crown on her head.

Without a regent to depend upon while she busied herself with the business of love, her duties to oversee the Grand Romance left little space for respite. No chance she was handing over the reigns of the events to Leia.

Her sandals tapped against the glossy tiled halls of the Beautiful Palace, and she paused at the towering Grand Ballroom doors. She took a deep breath, adjusted the lace veil over her face,  and pushed her shoulders back. With a nod to the valkyries, she entered the ballroom.

 

A rush of alpha pheromones swept around her, enveloping her completely. Her shaky hand landed at her belly, steading her. Mind hazy, she blinked through crystal-crusted eyelashes. The thick scent of spicy domination roared through the ballroom in a masculine tide of ownership. A ripe omega, vulnerable in the unfiltered room, could be scooped up and carried off in a heartbeat, without the smell of her man on her skin, in her blood.

She crushed the lump of sadness in her throat at the memory of her alpha - the lack of his permanence in her life, on her skin - and thanked Maz for the supply of emergency suppressants she had sipped to compensate for the dwindling solar water in her bath. She must be present at the mating event as Empress and ruler of Venus, but her heart lingered inside a snowy mountain cabin in Nepal.

The room teemed with men draped in togas red as her lips. Black masks obscured their faces, hiding their identities from the Empress who entered the room. Gliding along the periphery, Rey studied them in silence, unnoticed. They were exquisite. Gorgeous examples of ideal manly specifications, each more impressive than the next.

 

Round, firm shoulders and thick, sturdy legs. Dark hair or fair locks, hearty laughs and murmured whispers. The mix of tantalizing scents wafting in the ballroom was an intoxicating blend of spice and sex. Rey’s fingertips trailed the wall as she laid a hand over her locket.

The way his flavor burst on her tongue.

Matching dimples in the muscles of his lower back.

Revelations and desire building atop one another to an orgasmic release of pleasure.

 

Climbing a staircase, memories assaulted her. Alpha scent filled her senses, and her mind sorted images of their hut - his hands - morning light - his touch. If she didn’t find a place to sit down soon, she’d collapse.

Rounding the staircase, she felt her way to a chaise lounge, and sat down gratefully. The alphas milling around in the ballroom below slapped one another on the back, barely noticing her arrival. She watched, picking out familiar men in the crowd until she caught her breath.

“Everything alright, my Beauty?”

Phasma stood at her shoulder, and Rey peered up at her governess with a rush of devotion. Phasma would help. She always had, no matter how Rey misbehaved.

“Phas - oh - “ Words stuck in her throat as a cry climbed. “Can you help me?”

Her furrowed brow deepened as Phasma placed a hand atop Rey’s where is lay on her arm. “Sweet one. Of course. What’s wrong? Hmm?”

“Just...can you...start? This event - please? Announce it? I don’t think I can.”

Phasma’s blue eyes considered her a moment before nodding and rolling her eyes with a huff. “I’m just relieved you still have a voice under all that ridiculous fabric. Course I will.”

She stepped close to the balcony ledge, tall and imposing, a regal alpha female leading her troops to their destiny and Rey scooted away from view. She could trust Phasma - she could always depend on her.

The chimes sounded, and Rey watched Phasma speak, hands delicate on the bannister. Below, dozens of alpha men assembled, taking a knee. From beneath her veil, Rey studied the alphas faces behind masks as they looked at Phasma.

The didn’t look like evil killers.

Beta-haters.

They looked excited. Little boys on Christmas morning, ready to open gifts.

 

“Esteemed alphas, welcome,” Phasma said, looking into the crowd of men. “On this, the fourth day of the Grand Romance, we have prepared a dance for you. You are welcome to look. And eventually touch.”

Booming approval rocked the room with joy. Rey bit her lip in amusement, watching twinkling eyes behind deep, black masks.

“We have some accessories available for your viewing pleasure,” she went on, gesturing to the valkyries at the ballroom double doors. A line of omegas entered the ballroom, dropping heaps of velvet blankets and satin pillows beside each alpha, leaving silver bowls of fuzzy peaches and grape clusters scattered. The alphas roared their approval, dropping to the ground appreciatively. Masks were tossed aside and fruit was plucked tenderly. They laid in personal velvet nests, propped heads in a huge palms, bare legs extended luxuriously.

The grins and chuckles made Rey smile, fading only when she spotted Poe, keeping guard at the doors. Faint silver ran through his hair in gentle waves. His voice carried to the balcony easily. He had fought her alpha - lived with him, knew him. Maybe better than herself.

“To make you very much at home, our lovely omegas have prepared a dance set to a tune by a French composer, in the hopes it will appeal to you as Francophiles. A nod to your home-away-from-home in Paris. We hope you will feel just as welcome to - make yourself at home here.”

Nods and applause, a few whoops of glee accompanied Phasma’s speech, and Rey retreated further into her seat as she studied Poe’s dark eyes. The room darkened slightly, and a hush swept through the ballroom floor. The alphas lounged, comfortably relaxed as they picked at fruit, rumbles of laughter echoing to the balcony.

The ceiling descended slowly, demanding attention as it drew closer to the alphas. Somewhere in the rafters a piano’s keys were grazed. A tune, a melody haunting as a dream filtered into the room as a glass structure ascended from above the ballroom. When the lights illuminated the vast, transparent ceiling, dozens of unmated omegas spun. Naked, bare behind thin glass, they floated without gravity, a weightless dance.

Rey grinned wickedly, entertained by the chorus of gasps and choked groans rising from the surprised alphas. She hadn’t thought much about what she’d missed while in Kathmandu with her alpha, so caught up in her own need, but this was a sight she was pleased not to have missed.

Shapely limbs floated in the glass ceiling above the alpha’s heads.

A perfect dance of choreographed movements by bodies curved to a ripe juiciness, rivalling the alphas’ peaches for delicate excellence. The anti-gravity chamber of the ceiling made the omegas look like angels, and the alphas below stared as if they’d glimpsed god.

 

The music tripped patiently, sweetly and the omegas danced in precise beauty. Each omega’s face was masked - gold leaf or lace or paint - but their tight breasts and trim triangles of womanhood were mercifully bare. Rey watched as the entire ballroom of alphas stared up at the glass ceiling, mouths agape, hardening lengths straining under short togas.

Bubbles dropped from above the omegas heads while they danced, prismatic orbs they caught and handled as they danced. Rey was transfixed, amazed at the beauty of their synchrony and talent, until groans of alpha pleasure rose to the balcony. 

The omegas were proving to be too much for the alphas.

Men with little left to hide and no choice but to touch themselves, slave to the need for their mates, moved as nature demanded beneath the dancing omegas.

Reduced to pleading and whimpering neediness, punctuated by growls lifted around the ballroom as each alpha got what he needed, stroking himself shamelessly to the sight of his omega dancing in the sky. Some were on their knees, a single hand splayed on the ground as they leaned over, necks craned to watch the dance. Rey’s eyes widened as a bright burn lit her cheeks, and she looked away quickly. The heady scent of desire spiked through the room.

The omegas, safe behind glass handled the bubbles until they’d grown large enough to carry them to the ballroom floor.

As each woman stepped inside her bubble, the glass at her feet melted and fell away. One by one, omegas descended to the ballroom floor, turning a pirouette inside her glass bubble. As it shattered, the thick spice of alpha was married to the subtle notes of orange slice, rainwater, lilac and magnolia, sweet mint and vanilla.

Jumping to their feet one at a time, each alpha strode to his omega with feral purpose.

Hyacinth and Neptas

Avyanna and Zuro

Serena and Maxton

 

One after another, matches were made.

Masks discarded, omegas descended through the melting ceiling, and every alpha held his breath, waiting to breathe her in. Rey watched the men who shoved one another aside to reach the naked woman before her feet hit the floor, wondering if anything could have held anyone back once he’d scented his mate.

Bands of steel and transparisteel walls couldn’t have separated them now. Her heart swelled to fullness as she watched the women under her care - her people - wrap arms lovingly around the neck of her mate. Willingly, the omegas whispered consent into her alpha’s ear, and spoke the words the alphas would need to hear from his woman - I choose you - before stealing her away out the double doors.

The Council would be ready to approve the matches, eyes shielded. Their final say would be law, but Rey could tell already how trivial their approval was. Nothing would tear these women from the men they chose, that much was evident.

Legs laced around strong hips, alphas carried their omegas over the doorway threshold one after another. Rey sat transfixed, mesmerized. He’d carried her, too. From the Falcon. To his bed.

And she had left him.

Her alpha.

The only one she wanted.

Her heart was lead in her chest, threatening to spill molten regret into her veins, poisoning her to incapacitation. Her breath caught in terror.

Briar was dancing, descending like an angel in a sheer, shimmering bubble...and Poe was at the door, on his feet. His eyes were locked on her form, and she spun lazily as she floated to the floor to the final strains of the song. Hand on his hilt, mouth agape in a small smile, he was transfixed.

All at once, Rey panicked, and stood before she knew what she was doing.  

 

 _Stop!_  
The command she suggested was an instantaneous, pervasive command, nearly audible. Every eye in the ballroom flew to hers, seeking answers as she stammered to explain. She rushed down the stairs, thin layers of skirt bunched wildly in her fist, freezing the room with tossed suggestions thrown in every direction, full of panic.

_Wait! Wait!_

 

Poe’s tiny smile was luminous, and he walked with a hand on his sword’s hilt with assuredness. His eyes were glassy, and his hands stretched to Briar, who was completely under his spell.

Rey raced down the stairs willing them to see her, willing them to wait - but, Poe’s eyes were only for Briar, and she couldn’t look away from him.

She watched as she ran down the stairs as Poe tugged a velvet blanket from the ground and wrapped it around Briar’s shoulders before bending to sweep her into his arms. They reached the doors, two love-struck people, and Briar was in his arms as the ballroom doors closed behind them. Rey heaved a sigh of relief, a step behind them, happy at least their initial joining hadn’t happened in front of both kingdoms.

There was no keeping them apart now, and Rey smiled in spite of herself.

This was good.

Her best friend had fallen for a handsome alpha from a faraway planet, just as Rey had. Who was she to stand in the way? She smiled, looking away as a blush crept her cheeks. It wasn’t an unhappy arrangement - not when she had a love of her own. Not when every cell in her body longed for one man. She opened her mouth to speak, a feeble but necessary attempt to get their attention before anything more intimate happened in the palace hallway, when her gaze landed on the Council waiting at the end of the hall, and on Leia.

  
Who stood watching the entire ordeal.

 

*******

 

Her head pounded and hysteria threatened to overrun her thoughts.  
Rey crumpled against her bedroom door and pulled the crown from her head, dropping it onto her vanity. Falling heavily into her chair, her head landed in her hands as she panted, breathless from her anxious race to her room.

“I see,” Leia had said icily. She’d glanced at Briar and Poe as they left in one another’s arms, too wrapped up in one another to be bothered with royal niceties or official proclamations. “I was afraid something like this might happen, but then again,” she’d said, turning her gaze to Rey, “I’m sure we’re not all disappointed.”

Rey had narrowed her eyes and smiled at her predecessor. “There are some things beyond our control.” She’d watched as Poe stopped to lift Briar’s chin to kiss her lips in the hallway. She smiled up at him in a way that made Rey’s heart burst, and looked back at Leia. “You can’t stop love, Leia. It would be foolishness to even try.”

Leia took a step in her direction as another couple spilled out of the ballroom, approved by the Council with a nod.

“Sometimes, even love isn’t enough.”

Rey had watched her cautiously as Leia stepped closer. “We want it to be. Desperately.” The older woman’s eyes were dark and familiar, haunted and deep, and Rey shoved his memory away.

“It is up to the lovers to choose,” Rey had insisted, raising her chin.

“It might be, in most cases, but when biology deceives us? When destiny and our designations conspire together to hijack and eviscerate us? What feels like liberation can mean our demise.”

 

Her steady gaze had held Rey’s, and another couple flitted by, joined and approved as Rey fought bitterness.

“A woman should choose for herself,” Rey asserted.

“Much of the time I would agree with you. Yes. But in some cases, she may not know what she does...and what it could cost.”

They were talking in rhymes and circles, and Rey felt the urge to scream, throw something, stomp until her feet stung. She turned to leave before she lost her temper, and Leia’s words at her back followed her like a toxic cloud as she hurried to the safety of her room.

 

“My son,” she’d said, “did he touch you? When he was on Venus. Did he?”

Rey had turned around in triumph, knowing her Nepali journey was still a secret she held. She’d beamed at Leia and smiled gently, turning without saying a word as she restarted her walk.

“But he didn’t bite you,” Leia had said. “You’re not mated. He failed to commit when the moment was presented again, my Beauty. You must ask yourself why that might be.”

Rey had stopped in her tracks. Turning, she’d looked at Leia in the eye again.

“Tell me about the solar water, Leia. Tell me why you’ve suppressed a generation of omega women. Was that for their safety, too? When you sent your son away as a child. When you chose to keep me denied of all the secrets you juggled about the planet I now rule, was that for our safety? How could that be?”

She’d opened her mouth to respond, but Rey had enough.

“I am the Empress of Venus, The Flawless One, crowned ruler of omegas.” She’d held a hand aloft, squeezing her eyes closed as she suggested the order at Leia and the Council. “I relieve you of your duties as regent. You can go.”

Leia had watched her carefully before turning on her heel to leave, and the Council had seen it all. There was no precedent for what would come next, and Rey needed time to think. To gather her wits about her. 

At her vanity, she reached for the water pitcher and poured a drink, sucking it down desperately as she looked in the mirror. Panic was still written across her face. She’d chewed all her red gloss from her lips, sad and anxious and needing comfort. Instinct made her reach for her locket, and she opened it as she pricked her finger with a needlework pin, and dripped her blood onto the holodisc.

 

_Tell me where you are, my omega._

_Come back to me._

_Please._

 

His message illuminated on the wall of her room. Rey gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth. He’d left her a message - he wanted her. Her heart pounded in her chest, a trapped bird, as she remembered his voice. The memory was so close, almost tangible enough to touch. Their bed, his scent - she tucked her chin to her chest and breathed deeply, giving herself over to the comfort of being in his arms - the strength she’d needed and the care he’d shown.

He was good for her - she was sure he was.

The rest was details, and she needed answers.

She sobbed as a tearful smile bloomed on her face. Jumping for the door when she heard a knock, her bliss colored everything else. She barely registered her movements before throwing the door open with a broad smile.

Briar and Poe stood in her doorway, hands laced, smiling at one another. They looked at Rey in unison, and for a moment, no one said a word. Briar’s face of contrition was at odds with the shock that passed over Poe’s features. He looked quickly from Rey to Briar in wonder, and back to Rey again.

“Come in here,” she hissed, yanking them inside before leaning against the shut door. She looked at Briar and Poe, both in awe at the situation they found themselves in, and she knew it was time for revelations and confession to begin.

 

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the French Impressionist composer, [Claude Debussy,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy) who wrote the incredible [Clair de Lune,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY) in 1890, the tune our Venusian omegas danced to inside the glass ceiling of the Grand Ballroom. I listened to this piece one million times this week, dreaming up this chapter, and I adore it wholly. It is devastatingly romantic, perfect for our hyper-feminine fever dream of _Flawless._  
>  If you make any Twilight jokes about that song, I'm coming to find you. And I hope you caught the _"glass ceiling"_ reference. 
> 
> You guys are the best on earth. I am going to try to get another chapter out Saturday, to get us back on track. THANK YOU for being amazing!!!! We're about at the halfway point, and oh em gee, you guys, hang onto your hats.  
> xoxox  
> Berry


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time on _Flawless_...  
> The Grand Romance on Venus was underway, and the alphas got off watching their naked omega women dance _*above*_ the ballroom's glass ceiling. Poe and Briar's love connection meant Rey third-wheeled to Leia, where she promptly fired the old gal, perhaps prematurely, before facing a very confused Poe at her bedroom door with his blushing Briar.  
> Oh - and, Ben misses Rey. And Rey misses Ben. They are one mutually-pining mess which is just how I like it.

 

Chapter 14 

 

 

“What the hell?”

Poe took a short step back from Briar. Confusion radiated in tense waves through Rey’s room as his eyes flew between the Empress and his omega.

 

“I can explain.” Rey held up a hand and he paused. His brows furrowed, and his eyes darkened as he waved a finger at the two women.

“You’re supposed to be - but she’s - and you’re - “

Both hands raked through thick, wavy hair as he growled in frustration. Briar smiled gently, taking a step towards him. Hoping he wouldn’t snap at her friend, Rey waited, watching his response. Their eyes met, and Poe dropped his hands.

Briar cupped his cheek and stepped closer. “It was always me. I was here with you. It was me, alpha.” She caressed his stubbled cheek and Rey watched as they stepped closer to one another.

 

“But - how - “ Poe’s hands rested on Briar’s waist as she came chest-to-chest with him, gazing into his eyes tenderly, so openly Rey felt her heart clench.

“Rey asked me to substitute. She had to leave - unexpectedly. It was me under the veil the whole time. Every time you came to this room...it was me.”

Poe hands lifted to Briar’s face, stroking the apples of her cheeks. He gazed at her in wonder, drinking her in so thoroughly Rey glanced away, feeling like an intruder on the precious moment.

“It was you,” he breathed. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, bending to breathe her in, and Briar wrapped her arms around him. Rey had never seen her friend look more serene. Briar smiled against his shoulder, and blinked a grin at Rey.

“Are you disappointed?” Briar asked, when Poe pulled back to see her eyes.

Rey watched as he brought Briar’s hands together, curled to his lips. His eyes closed as he pressed kisses to them, and Briar looked at him adoringly.

“Never,” he said. “I’m relieved, to be honest. I was - and then she - but you…”

 

They were outshining the sun, looking at one another like that. Rey cleared her throat and with one final smile at one another, they faced her. Poe tugged Briar to his side, securing her with an arm around her waist. Rey took a deep breath.

“Can we talk?”

Rey moved to the window seat and Briar joined her, tying a knot in the velvet blanket at her shoulder and waist securely. Poe’s stance was wide as he faced them, arms crossed over his chest, looking at both their faces before he shook his head and huffed.

“I can see how this worked,” he said, “I couldn’t tell the difference behind that veil. You barely spoke,” he said, looking to Briar,  “I would’ve never known you apart.”

Rey stifled a smile at their covert plan when she looked at Briar, still pleased they’d gotten away with it.

“Wasn’t til I smelled you...and _saw_ you...dancing,” Poe said, eyes widening as he paused to swallow. “And then, I knew,” he said, eyes burning into Briar’s.

“You knew it was me? Really?”

“I did...but, I was so confused! I remembered you of course, Empress,” he said, glancing at Rey, “but I couldn’t remember your face clearly.” He looked at Briar and smiled brighter. “When I saw you behind the glass, and your face - your...and then…yes,” he said, nodding with a smirk. “I was confused as hell, but I knew. You are for me, omega.”

Briar bit her lip, merry eyes shining brightly back at him. Rey cleared her throat and tried to cover semantics before the lust-fueled haze of the newly-approved, mated couple choked her.

 

“Do you have any reason to think Leia knew anything about this? Before she saw you in the hall. Do you think she suspected while I was away?”

Poe and Briar shook their heads, and Poe lifted his hand in surrender.

“This is all news to me, your Beauty.”

“I don’t think so. No,” Briar affirmed.

“Well, that’s something, then.”

Rey slumped against the cool dome wall and sighed. If Leia had suspected Rey’s absence, she could have swayed the Council. Poisoned against her, it would be much harder to rule in Leia’s absence.

 

“If I may ask, your Beauty, why were you away?”

Fair enough question. He’d been yanked into this operation against his knowledge, after all.

“I went to find my rightful alpha, Captain. The tournament champion who - forgive me - bested you?”

 

Poe nodded and shook his head with a soft chuckle. “He sure did, didn’t he? I’ve beat Kylo Ren twice during practice rounds in the last year. One of those he was even sober.”

“Kylo - who’s - what’s that name?”

“Kylo Ren. Tournament champion.” He looked at Rey and held a hand over his head. “Big guy. About yay tall. Snarls like a beast when you get near his omega.”

“But...but, my alpha’s name is Ben. He told me his name is Ben.” She looked at Briar beside her, brow furrowing.

“He told you his name’s Ben?” Poe asked.

“Yes, he - he told me a lot of things, actually...things that make less sense the more I learn.”

“Well,” Poe sighed, “that’s something. Isn’t it? Gave you his oldest name instead of the gladiator name Snoke fitted us all with on Mars.”

 

_His oldest name._

Rey stared at Poe, speechless.

He had more than one name?

 

Poe pulled the chair from the vanity and leaned elbows on his knees.

“I haven’t heard that name in...a dozen years. Fifteen, maybe? Being mated does a definite number on a man’s mind, I’ll tell you that much. Snoke would have a fit if he knew Ren had gone around using that name.”

“I didn’t - I never -” Rey stood and paced, hands twisting as she gathered her thoughts. “Captain.” She rounded on Poe and stood tall. “That day in the arena. The day of the tournament. Did you fight your hardest to truly win?”

Poe looked to Briar and back to Rey. His hand cupped the back of his neck, and he winced.

“Your Beauty, you can hardly expect me to own up to getting stomped by a compatriot in front of my omega. It’s not...it’s sort of…” He looked at Rey imploringly, and sighed as he leaned back in the chair.

“Captain, please. I’m trying to make sense of what I know to be true and what I _hope_ to be true. Did you throw the fight? Did you succumb willingly? Or did you do your utmost to win that day?”

 

Poe sighed and looked at Rey in the eyes. “Of course I tried my hardest. I didn’t want to, mind you, but orders are orders. I knew how Ren felt about you since that day in New York. On those steps in the city center - we all all saw what happened between you two. The moment it happened. After that, Ren made it clear you were meant for him once we got to Venus. No matter what.”

“You remember that?”

“Lightning striking the ground between you two clear as day? Like cupid flew down from the heavens and pierced you both with an arrow?” He chuckled again and crossed thick arms over his chest. “Uh, yes. We all saw that.”

“And you still fought him? In earnest?”

“Your Beauty - “

“Captain, please. Call me Rey.”

He eyed her warily and looked at Briar who nodded.

“Rey,” he said slowly, testing. “You have to understand something. Mars is - well, it’s not Venus. And that’s an understatement. We don’t have...dominion over our choices quite the same way as you all seem to have here.”

 

Whether Poe Dameron was abreast of the complications regarding choice on Venus was a different discussion for another time. Rey pressed on, hoping for clarity.

“What do you mean by that exactly, Captain?”

“Poe,” he corrected.”It’s just Poe.”

“Poe, alright. What do you mean by that? Are you saying you knew Ben - er... _Ren_ was determined to find me for himself, but he won the tournament fair and square that day? That your king - Snoke - demanded all of you to claim the hand of the Empress, at any cost?”

Poe nodded. “As the treaty demands. Yes, your - yes, Rey. Of course.”

 

At least some things were making sense. Some parts of Ben’s story was matching up. Rey felt relief seep through her veins as her heart began beating normally again.

 

“Alphas need to be bred to keep the solar system under control,” he went on. “Just as Snoke always said. The Martian crown will only be able to subdue the other planets with the Venusians help. We were always taught that. Just as the treaty outlines.”

 

Rey turned to Poe as her blood froze to ice.

“That is not what the treaty says.”

Poe blinked and his arms sank to his lap.

“The treaty stipulates peace between the designations. Maintained and promoted by marriage of the Venusian Empress and the Martian champion consort. The entire point of the treaty is to avoid another destructive super-alpha-led war. To spare lives and spread peace and safety to every human.”

 

Poe shook his head defiantly. “Your Beauty, alphas were always meant to rule. It’s why betas were born. To create alphas. It’s why omegas are made to fit the role of mate - to support the alpha system of domination and control.”

 

The air felt too thin.

Rey felt behind her for the seat and stumbled into it.

 

“Is that - what you’ve been taught on Mars?”

Poe nodded. “Since we were boys. Of course. Isn’t that...why? Have you learned differently?”

 

Briar and Rey exchanged a weighty look. The miscommunication between the planets was apparently a bigger issue than any Venusian could have known.

“No. That is not how we were educated either on Venus or on Earth, and it is not, Captain Dameron - no matter what you’ve been taught - at all the point of the Split and the treaty.”

Rey stood and gazed out the dome window as she collected her thoughts. Clouds tumbled endlessly, and she took comfort in their steadfastness.

Turning to Poe she lifted her chin. “Alphas are not superior to omegas. Or to betas, for that matter. They are different, absolutely, but not meant to dominate.”

Poe smirked and leaned back in his chair. “You sound like Luke.”

 

_Luke._

 

“Leia’s brother,” Rey breathed. “The alpha twin. What ever happened to him? Is he on Mars?”

Poe shook his head. “He’s been gone for years and years.”

“Gone where?”

“Just...gone. Somewhere. He and Snoke were regent and ruler on Mars after the Split. Before I was even born. When we were young, Luke was always at odds with Snoke - mostly about topics like this, from what I can recall. Snoke insisted betas were for breeding, omegas were for mating...that once alphas were the majority again, and control of the solar system was his, there would be no more need for an army. No more First Order trapping and trafficking betas. No more Split. No more breeding programs and tournaments. And no more training and beatings and enhancement infusions for us alphas, because every being alive would be an alpha. Everywhere.”

 

Briar took Rey’s hand and they listened in silence as Poe went on.

 

“Luke always argued designations were identical in value. Important. He was opposed to the beta breeding program from day one. Never liked the idea of beta traps. Wanted peace in the galaxy, but not like that. One day, there was a falling out and Luke just...never came back to training again. He was just...gone.”

 

Minutes ticked by, and Rey sat still in her seat. Everything felt still. Deathly peaceful, and quiet.

Beta traps.

Breeding.

Alpha domination.

Luke’s dismissal from Mars.

Snoke’s indoctrination of the alphas.

Alpha beatings and infusions.

 

For a moment, it was a reality too terrible to face, and then it all fit together like a puzzle.

 

“And Snoke has been the big boss since then.” Poe leaned back as he finished. The room was silent.

“And you - believe all of that?” Briar’s voice was soft as a whisper. “The betas being bred and alphas being superior...you...believe it?” It would have cracked if she’d lifted it further, and Rey turned to face her. Poe was on his knee in front of her in a second.

“I will believe anything you want, my dove. For the rest of my days, I will only ever fight for you. All my allegiance. It’s yours, Briar Delphine.”

 

Tears welled in Briar’s eyes, and Rey’s mind wasn’t quiet anymore.

There would need to be sense made of all the things Poe had shared, but he’d done his part - he’d shared what was his to tell - and the rest belonged to Briar. Rey stood and took a step away, but the couple didn’t move. She’d known her best friend long enough to know tears were inevitable, and this was Poe’s job, now.

 

“I need to speak to my people,” Rey announced, without turning to face them.

 The couple behind her needed privacy and time to find their path to one another through the mess their kingdoms had made.

“Thank you, Poe. And Briar - my sweet Briar, _thank_ you. You’ve both worked hard to give me - to give _all of us_ what we need to move forward.”

 

She took a step towards the door, and Poe called her name.

“Rey - whatever you’re about to do, be careful. I’ve known Ky - _Ben Solo_ since he was a little boy, and he’s never given his heart to another. He knew you the moment he scented you that day on Earth, and he’s never wavered from that stance. Whatever needs doing to be with you, I know him well enough to know - he will do it. Or die a hundred deaths trying.”

 

“Thank you, Poe.” She turned the handle and looked out at the empty hall with a steely stare. “Take care of each other.”

Her feet moved quickly through the halls once she left the lovers in her room. She ate up the ground with determination, listing plans in her head.

Her steps slowed as she approached the throne room. She’d be able to think better with the Council at hand. If Snoke was influencing the alpha nation with such abhorrent indoctrination, Venus would need to be made aware the alphas in their midst had a similar mindset, to some extent, to say nothing of the threat Mars might be under Snoke’s direction.

If he’d been running the First Order on Earth for some time, and laying beta traps for breeding program purposes, there was no telling how much Venus would need to protect itself, both from inside influence and outside attack.

 

“Open the doors, and call the Council for an emergency meeting.” She nodded at the valkyries who stood guard and stilled as they didn’t move. Their staffs remained barred over the doors in an _x._

 

“I’m sorry, your Beauty. We can’t let you in.”

“What?” Rey took a step towards them and glared.

“The Queen regent’s orders, your Beauty. You’ve been denied entry.”

“Like hell! Open these doors!”

“I’m sorry, your Beauty. We can’t.”

 

There was more than one way to skin a cat.

Spinning the suggestion like a spool of thread, she hurled it with all her will. The doors flew open and Rey stormed past the valkyries in a huff. Her skirt blew around her as she stormed inside the throne room, nostrils flaring and eyes blazing.

Leia and Amilyn stood speaking with Mon Mothma as Rey approached, burning with indignation as she flew at them.

 

“Leia!”

“Rey.”

“I released you of your duties as regent! You have no right to be here! No role to - “

Leia held up a hand and turned to face her as Amilyn and Mon Mothma stood behind her, watching. “I heard what you suggested outside the ballroom earlier, indeed. You’re wrong however, to think I’ve been removed from duties. I haven’t. As you can see.”  She gestured to the ladies who stood behind her, holding blueprint plans.

 

“I did,” Rey insisted, stepping towards her. “I clearly stated you’re to be relieved of your duties and now I find you not only in the throne room, but barring the door from me, the Empress of Venus as I…”

“But, you’re no longer the Empress of Venus,” Leia said smoothly. “Your consort had chosen another omega, and you’ve mated no alpha. Neither the champion winner, nor the alternative. The treaty’s terms have not been upheld, my dear. You are thereby alleviated of rule, and in your stead I humbly agree to sustain Venus until a substitute can be chosen.”

She was standing on the steps below the thrones, or Rey would have been taller. She’d been taller than Leia since she was twelve. As it was though, Leia looked down on her with calm regard, and Rey felt a furious hurricane tear through her.

 “You have no right to do this.”

“Oh, but I do, my Beauty. You undermined the Council’s substitute for an alpha consort and he’s taken another mate. They all have. If we have any hope of peace for the solar system, it lies with me, now.”

“You can’t do this, Leia. This isn’t a dictatorship. You cannot afford yourself unlimited rule.”

“Am I to leave the rule of a planet to a child who’s barely come of age? One who has broken the treaty’s terms?” Leia took a step and peered down at Rey as her smile disappeared.  “You had one job. Lay claim to the winner. Mate him, take him as consort, bear a child to unite the planets - a joint figurehead of peace for the first time since the Split. I have waited all these years for you to grow up and do your part, Rey - _me_. I have waited and when the time came you failed.”

 

“My alpha was taken from me. Unfairly! Stolen in the night like a criminal!”

“Another selfish choice barely avoided when I was made to send my own son away! Again! You think that doesn’t hurt me? To be separated from my son again? Is that what you think?”

“I have no idea what to think of you,” Rey’s eyes narrowed as she stepped closer. “I only know I am going to fix this, if it’s the last thing I do.”

Leia’s eyes crinkled as she laced her hands. Her head cocked to the side. “And how are you going to do that? You are a child, my dear Rey, and I have maintained peace for our people and upheld the treaty’s terms for thirty years while you scampered through the halls of this palace with your little friends.”

 

One stair and she was eye-level with Rey.

“I have been running this planet your whole life. I’m not going to turn it over to a child who’s already destroyed our peace.”

 

Suggestion and persuasion dueled as Empress and Regent faced one another. Hands curled into fists, the room hummed as they pressed against one another’s wishes with their own.

 

“I am the rightful ruler of Venus, and I will not fail my people!”

“You have already failed them. You have already broken the treaty!”

 

The strength of the omega rulers clashed in a clap of thunder overhead, and a shriek pierced the throne room as Amilyn ducked. A piercing alarm broke the quiet, and the room shined red and white as hysteria threatened.

“A break! There’s been a break in the dome!”

“Oh my goddess, a crack!”

“Quick!” Leia shouted to the valets nearby, “call for immediate backup oxygen supplies and adhesive exterior coating application! Protocol One! Implement Protocol One!”

 

Shards of glass tinkled as they fell like sharp rain. They shattered on throne room floor, and people screamed.

Rey looked up to see mists of toxic clouds blowing around the crack in the dome, panic-stricken as women around her surged to their posts. The exterior seam sealed slowly, sucking the clouds into space as the room around her circulated in chaos.

Her eyes fell on Leia as she watched the older woman shout orders, directing traffic among the people who were used to taking orders from her.

 

There would have to be another way.

She would have to find another way to make sense of all that was falling apart before she failed her people - herself...her alpha, the queen regent’s own son...everyone. Facing off against Leia would only bring destruction and tragedy on them all.

“Deploy the confetti, even if it’s early,” Leia shouted above the din. “The festivities will obscure the seam in the dome from anyone who would take notice, I’m sure. We’ll have to wait for the subsitute’s installment for the time being, just - let’s make sure we’re all safe for now.”

 

No one noticed when the former Empress slipped quietly from the chaotic scene left behind in the throne room.

 

*****

 

“Rey! Wait - what?”

Finn grabbed Rey’s elbow as she lifted her skirt to climb into the pod. The bright red and white lights had stopped flashing, and the alarm had been silenced as she’d fled to the ships’ hangar bay below the palace.

“I have to go, Finn.” She climbed into the pod and stuffed her skirts around her as she reached to pull the door closed. “Trust me.”

“Can I - do you need - “

Rey smiled at him weakly. “I’ll call you if I need a hand, I promise. Stay safe, and Finn, thank you for this.”

 

She nodded and he tapped the pod as it closed with a hiss around her. The wheel between her knees wasn’t needed. Rey strapped the belt around her tightly as she pressed a suggestion of a name at the console - _Luke, take me to see Luke_ \- and the pod shot backward into deep space.

 

The Beautiful Palace was obscured on Ishtar Terra.

Inside the dome, a living, magnificent snow globe of colorful, sparkling confetti shined amidst the pale, pink cloudfalls. The people of Mars and Venus were celebrating the mass mating rituals of the designations.

 

Confetti swirled inside the dome and countless couples danced and Leia sat on the Venusian throne as the Sweet Jubilee began. The Grand Romance was completed. The treaty was broken, the dome of Venus was impaired and Rey was racing through space to an unknown destination where hopefully, a man she’d never met would help her make sense of a world dissolving before her eyes.

 

Answers. She needed answers like oxygen, two precious rare commodities on Venus. Without anyone to see her rocket away from the happy planet of Venus, Rey aimed for the only person she knew whose views might align with her own.

A man whose home was taken from him, as hers had been.

A man with few safe places to run in the entire solar system. Like Rey. 

 

The silent, black night of space groaned around her small ship, and Rey’s hand landed at her locket. She needed her alpha. His strength emboldened her to be the strong pillar she knew lay inside her.

Without a needle or blood, she willed the holodisc open, and watched as his words bloomed on the ship’s glass against the black of space, surrounded by stars that blurred as her eyes filled with tears.

 

_My only love, I am looking for you._

_I’ll never stop._

_Tell me where you are - let me find you, my omega._

_I need you. I need you._

 

The one-time Empress clutched the locket in her hand as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and let herself cry as the Flawless One never could.

 

_I’m trying._

_I’m trying, my alpha._

_Ben - I love you. I’m trying._

  


*******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS, we are in it, now! Up to our elbows in drama llamas!  
> LET'S GO ASK LUKE WHAT TO DO. Shall we?  
> Bwahahwhhwhwahh. Don't worry - Ben is just around the bend. We're on our way. Rey is working her way back to him, slowly but surely. We need her strong enough to stand on her own two legs first, and she's getting there.  
> Next week: Bombs Away! 
> 
> Love you guys so, so much! Thank you for the moodboard, @msdes, and your friendship! Your comment and thoughts keep me going!  
> xoxo  
> Berry


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time on _Flawless_...  
> Poe gave Rey a head's up that Ben luvs her, Snoke's a bad guy, and Luke might be a handy guy to know. Rey found out Leia disagreed with being fired before leaving Venus in a hurry once their catfight nearly took the dome down. She hopped a ship for Luke, hoping for an ally, and we crossed our fingers and lit a candle.
> 
> Now. 
> 
> Let's change **everything.**
> 
>  
> 
> Warning: discussion of human trafficking

 

Chapter 15 

 

_Closer._

“Closer. Please, alpha - closer.”

 

His eyes shined up at her in the dark. The heat of him between her legs, unyielding and immobile was enough to drive her mad. The plaintive whine in her voice was only for him, desperation making her claw at his bare shoulders with want.

“Please.”

She wasn’t above begging, not with her alpha. He had what she needed, and she couldn’t get close enough. His arms were tight around her waist, but she arranged them more firmly anyway, grinding her hips into his to prompt their bodies together more tightly.

_Those lips._

Sweeter than honeydip, full as a ripe plum. She sucked his lips into her mouth greedily, sighing as her tongue stroked his. He tasted familiar. Like sex and their hut and Nepali berries. If she could just get him to move - make him touch her.

She reached between them, stroking his manly length hidden inside leather. God, he was so thick. Impatience rose in her lungs and she gazed down at him. He was at her mercy. Maybe he needed her to inspire him.

Rey leaned back and held his dark gaze. Her thighs tightened around his narrow hips, and she tugged on the orange jumpsuit zipper slowly. The corner of his smile quirked, filthy amusement twinkling in his eyes. His huge arms raised, hands tucking behind his head as he watched her strip.

Gently, one tooth at a time, she drew the zipper lower. Her nipples hardened as the fabric grazed her breasts, falling open inch by inch while he watched.

 

“Like what you see, my alpha?”

She bit her lip and smiled down at him. The jumpsuit fell to her waist as she shimmied her shoulders free, grinning wickedly at him. He was pinned. She leaned over him, bare chests touching as Rey pressed her breasts to his skin, nosing at his jaw.

 _Divine_ \- he smelled like morning sun and rich chocolate.

 

“Please,” she whimpered, grinding into his hard member beneath her. “Please, alpha. Knot me, knot me. Fill me up and stretch me around your knot, I need it so badly.”

Close - she was close, and if he would just - if they could just…

“Ben. Please. I need you, I need you.” She moaned into his neck, nuzzling him. Demands and hysterics weren’t out of the question. She was his - he’d bitten her, mated her...hadn’t he?  
Rey frowned, unable to will the memory of their mating clearly. He must have - they _must_ have.

Right?

“Alpha - alpha, please. Can’t get close enough. Can’t feel you enough, please…”

Sparkling, dark eyes held hers as he brought a hand to her cheek, pulling her face to his. His luscious mouth was an inch away, stubble lining his jaw and breath hot against her lips. She writhed in his lap, hoping he’d touch her breasts, take them in his hand and feel her heavy and aching for him. Take her ache between his lips, come on her skin, mark her and knead her muscles like a toy in his huge hands.

His gaze was tender. He was going to whisper. Tell Rey he needed her - he was about to give her what she needed, what they both wanted.

She took a breath, waiting for his secrets, leaning into his hand. Warm and safe.

 

He opened his mouth to speak, and Rey’s lips parted, listening as an inhuman noise - a signal? A summons back to reality broke the dream.

 

Her eyes flew open.

He vanished.

A jerk, the surge of her ship as it docked, a persistent beeping. The wheel between her knees hummed against her skin, unaware of her dreams. Catching her breath, she heaved an angry shout into the cabin. Irritation fizzled as she pressed a cool hand to her burning cheeks.

There was no one around to witness her thrashing, no alpha to soothe her throbbing need or cries of loneliness.

It had all been a dream, over too soon. The crest of her high floated down, disappointment settling like evaporating cloudfalls.

The groan of joining metal and gears interrupted the silence of yawning space. The ancient slumber of permanent night was disrupted by Rey’s pod landing on the artificial moon.

The space station.

Luke.

This must be where he was - a man without a home, without a family. Exiled from Mars, unable to flee to Venus. If Snoke’s First Order presence on Earth was as prominent as Poe had led Rey to understand, it made sense Luke would be here.

Alone.

In the middle of nowhere, orbiting alone on a man-made surface, circling Earth quietly on it’s annual trek around the sun.

 

The slick, white surface of the false moon she’d landed on shined brightly in the black of space. Rey shrugged the belts off her shoulders. Without her dream jumpsuit, she shivered in the cold cockpit. Jeweled sleeves and angel wings wouldn’t keep her warm here. She rubbed her arms roughly and huffed at the impracticality of intergalactic space travel in tulle and chiffon. Her bare midriff wouldn’t hold an alpha’s attention here, and if it did she was in trouble.

The last of Maz’s suppressants swallowed, Rey dropped her crown and wings in the seat as she climbed into the decompression chamber. Behind her, the tiny pod darkened, as Rey powered the down the pod’s engine. She stepped into the narrow, sterile closet and waited as the oxygen levels normalized.

 

Both doors sealed with a hiss, and Rey waited.

Beyond the entrance was an alpha who might help her sort the puzzle of her life.

Behind her, there was only loss and confusion. A stolen crown. Mutiny and betrayal. Grief and frustration she had no idea how to process.

Ahead lay the only route. The alternative was impossible - no going back.

 

Rey took a deep breath, and grasped the door’s handle. Whatever lay ahead, it was the only choice she had - the best chance she had of undoing the mistakes and sorting the pieces of her broken heart. She said a silent prayer the suppressants would hold, stood tall as she twisted the handle, and stepped through.

 

*******

 

Crickets chirped faintly.

Yellow pinpoints blinked in the thicket of trees, tiny, glowing bugs, hurrying on fragile wings buzzing past Rey as she stepped into the swamp.

The white door of the space station had clicked shut behind her with a resounding thud, and her crystal-laced sandals had sunk into the squelch of tawny mud.

 

Humidity slammed into her like a brick wall. Alive with the sounds of a watery world, Rey tugged her skirt into a fist at her hip. She looked out at the dusky swamp, and back at the sleek door behind her.

Rey was in outer space on an unknown, presumably-manned spacecraft orbiting Earth, looking for a lost alpha, an Earth-born, Martian-reared leader. And she was also ankle-deep in cool mud.

“Hello?”

It was worth shouting versus sliding further into the dirty water she stood in.

Her voice was swallowed by swamp noises, alive in the muggy twilight. Frogs and crickets hiccupped in the water. Fireflies blinked a lazy Morse code in the banyan trees. Rey turned on her heel as an owl hooted above her head, cooing at the stars that shined in the evening sky.

Lush, green trees surrounded her, rooted in murky water. Rey took a step and felt the slide of her sandals against a handmade surface. Under the dark water was a floor crafted of plastic and transparisteel, more familiar than her surroundings would have led her to believe. She gave a sigh of relief and pushed her nerves aside.

The atmosphere was a terribly convincing sham, but the facade was only so complete. She gathered her courage, looking around at the authentic ambiance and called again - “hello?”

Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to make this space station feel like an Earthy swampland. Someone with plenty of time on their hands.

 

She closed her eyes and breathed in the brackish air, thick with oppressive heat. A drop of sweat rolled between her breasts, a matching bead coursing down her temple, and she released her suggestion into the evening sky above like a firecracker.

_Luke._

A creaking door opened on a hill beyond the trees, and light poured over the misty water. A lantern.

Rey gathered her skirts and trudged through the thick mud, dress dragging as she climbed. Vines and brambles scraped her hands as she scrambled. The battle to climb to the light left her breathless as branches tore at her skirt and sleeves as she clambered higher.

 

A man stood above, toes hanging over the rim.

Graying and scowling, he peered down at Rey, holding a swinging lantern overhead. She slipped as she stood upright, smudging mud across the bridge of her nose as she swept back a wisp of errant hair.

“Luke?”

He eyed her warily. Eyebrows furrowed as he considered her, he lowered the lamp to sweep over her dirty dress and bedraggled hair.

“Are you Luke? The alpha who - “

Glittering, blue eyes pierced hers warily. She gulped and took another step closer, one hand braced against the muddy peak to keep from falling. He looked down at her imperiously, his mouth set in a grim line behind a gray beard.

“Luke Skywalker? Are you Luke Skywalker?”

He sighed and lowered the lantern to his side, begrudging as he offered Rey a hand the final steps onto the precipice.

“Thank you.” She huffed a sigh, looking out over the swamp.

The pod, the white door, the way she’d come - they were totally obscured by dense swampland. Perpetual nightfall hung low over the muddy wonderland, humming the wild symphony of low tide lullabies.

Rey was hidden in a marshy glade on a desolate moon with a man who glared at her with a haughty look of revulsion that could have slayed dragons.

 

*****

.

“Who are you?” he croaked.

Luke’s gruff words broke the silence as Rey curled her hands around the mug of tea. Her dress splayed neatly around her as she cozied up to the fire, warming her damp limbs. The warm air cooled inside the neat cabin, and Rey grit her teeth to keep from chattering. The familiar scent of recycled air blew too cool inside.

“I’m Rey, the…” she gulped and watched the swirl of lemon essence float through the green leaves in her cup. “I’m nobody.”

She was no longer the Venusian Empress, and it was too hard to think of who she’d been before she’d been chosen. How old had she been? Ten years old? Nine?

 

Luke grunted and his mustache twitched as he leaned closer.

“Nobody,” he muttered. “Right.” He huffed and cut his eyes as he assessed her.

Rey sipped her tea and watched the flames in the fireplace jump. Orange and burnt sienna, a jumpsuit color.

“Omega,” he said, inhaling deeply. Rey’s wide eyes shot to his. She froze, watching to see if she’d need to defend herself. “Venusian, then. Not a nobody. That’s for sure.”

 

Carefully, she brought her hands to her lap, curved around the ceramic mug.

“Venusian, yes. Raised in the Beautiful Palace by Queen Leia...your - sister? I believe?”

Luke raised his cup and drank while watching the fire dance. He grunted softly in agreement, and Rey looked around. The smooth, white ceiling overhead was at odds with the soft textiles of the surroundings, the brick hearth and roaring fire, the homey atmosphere of the small cottage in the dimly-lit marsh.

“What are you doing here?”

Rey swallowed and looked at the fire, too. “Things are out of control on the planets, between the designations. There gossip about the First Order. Terrible, horrific idealogy and rhetoric. Beta traps and breeding programs.” Rey cleared her throat and wrung her hands as Luke watched the fire. “I fled Venus, at odds with my queen regent over the right way to intervene - to fix things. I thought - “ She trailed off, hands held aloft.

 

Luke turned, shaking his head as she met his eyes.

“You thought you’d come find an old, outcast hermit on a far-flung space station in the sky to - what? Fix things? I was evicted from the human race when you were just a baby, a long time before we even knew how messed up we were going to make the solar system.”

He stood and walked to the table, noisily setting his mug down. “I tried to tell them the treaty was doomed from the beginning,” he said. He spoke to the far wall, not meeting Rey’s eyes. “I tried to tell them, but no one would listen.”

 

“I am listening.”

Luke turned and narrowed his eyes. He took a step towards Rey, watching her with bright, blue eyes that reflected the flames in the fireplace.

“So you are.”

“Go on.”

He watched her for a minute longer, unmoving while the fire crackled, and then sat heavily in a wooden chair. The legs scraped as he tugged himself closer to the fire.

 

“I worked with Snoke to train alpha champions. Fearless, benevolent leaders who would defend humanity once they came of age.”  
“What happened? How did you get h - “

“Snoke overruled,” he interrupted. “He was hell-bent on domination. Alpha superiority was all that mattered. The time would come when an alpha army was needed to invade. Deploy. Overrule. Occupy.”

Rey gulped. She knew where this conversation was leading.

“The surest way to breed alphas loyal to Snoke’s cause was to make them from scratch the old-fashioned way. Breeding betas, since omegas were out of reach.”

A shiver worked its way to her core. The stuff of her nightmares was reality, and Luke knew about it for decades.

“What happened?”

“I was evicted. Exiled. Left to rot on a spinning space station orbiting a dead world with only an illusion of fire to keep me warm.”

“And Leia?”

 

Luke smiled - the hint of warmth filling his features for the first time. “Leia did what she could. She had a vested interest in protecting and defending betas, of course - considering Han was one, and all.” He nodded to Rey and she smiled softly. It was good to be reminded of Leia’s humanity.

“But, how much did she know? How much did she go along with?”  
Luke’s face screwed up tightly and he turned quickly to Rey. “Go along with? Who said anything about Leia going along with Snoke?”

“I just - “ Rey stood and placed her mug on the fireplace mantle. “I don’t understand how she hasn’t taken steps to stop him. How she’s taken steps to empower him - keep the treaty with him. How she’s been used as a pawn to advance Snoke’s plan all these years.”

Luke stood and faced Rey as his eyes lit with dormant strength.

 

“You have no idea what she’s sacrificed. What price she’s payed.”

“To what - stay in power?”

“To stay in power?” Luke scoffed. “Grow up!” he bellowed. The alpha command boomed through the small room. “You think this is a power play on her part? That she hasn’t suffered and sacrificed to protect those she loved all this time?” He stepped closer, glaring at Rey as he spoke.

“She sent her own son away,” Rey argued, “sacrificed him to remain in power, too scared to fight Snoke at the time, hoping that…”

“She planted the best weapon she had on Mars.”

 

A beat passed. Luke’s chest heaved with anger as he watched Rey.

“What do you mean?”

“Her son. Ben. He was her greatest sacrifice - her secret weapon in the fight of our lives, until…”  
“Until what?”

“Until Han died. He died without an alpha to intercede - without me there to…” Luke faced the fire as his voice cracked. “He went to Mars to activate Ben. To wake him to action, but...but it didn’t work.”

 

Heat climbed Rey’s spine as her thoughts swirled.

“To activate Ben - what do you mean? How could he - “

“Ben Solo was planted on Mars as a sleeper agent. A double agent for his mother, Queen of Venus. He was sent there as a little boy."

Rey blinked as she listened, willing it to make sense.

"He’d be safe to grow up under the watchful eye of his useless alpha uncle until he was activated one day to fight on behalf of the omega cause.”

 

_Ben._

_Double agent._

_Sleeper._

Her mind whirled in a speeding torrent of panic and action.

 

“But why - his father…”

“He’s broken, the kid is. That’s how we knew. The moment he ran his blade through his father, we knew Snoke’s enhancement infusions had brainwashed Leia’s secret weapon - her Trojan horse. Han tried to bring him home - tried to activate him...and failed. He gave his life for his broken son, and I...I wasn’t there to come between them.”

 

Rey tumbled into the chair behind her.

Ben was brainwashed. He’d been planted as a sleeper agent by his omega mother and beta father, left to the safe-keeping of his alpha uncle on Mars, awaiting activation on foreign soil.

Snoke had manipulated his pheromones to convince him otherwise, educating him with alphas on a planet run by his crooked First Order, convincing him of beta usefulness only to the extent of breeding an alpha super-race.

  
“Why? Why did it fail?” Rey held her breath. Was he really a lost cause?  
“I don’t know.” Luke sounded tired. He stared into the fire and Rey watched his face age in the fire’s glow. “Han spoke the words that should have worked - I know it because Leia and I knew all along his father would come for him and speak the phrase that should have woken him to action one day.”

“What was it?”

Luke breathed deeply and looked at Rey. “It’s not too late.”

 

_It’s not too late._

“It had to be a parent to speak it to him. Someone he should have trusted and loved...Leia couldn’t have gone. No omega is safe on that planet alone. It had to be Han. A beta. His father.” Luke sighed. “You know the rest.”

 

Her heart sank as Rey listened. Rain fell on the cottage roof in sheets as the frogs outside sang louder.

 

“Only other one who would’ve stood a chance would’ve been his rightful omega.”

Her blood froze as his words floated through the quiet room.

“His other half. But without ever stepping foot on Venus - and since he’d already murdered his own father in cold blood on Mars at Snoke’s instruction, I doubt Leia would sacrifice one of her people to that fool’s errand.”

 

Time stopped.

Silence drowned out the fire - the rain - the creatures outside. Rey’s blood pumped in her ears, a crescendo in her heart blooming into a hurricane trapped in her body.  All these questions. All the confusion.

Leia’s resistance. Her refusal of Ben. Snoke’s indoctrination. Rey’s purpose.

The tattered edge of her gown dragged the dirty floorboards of the small cottage behind her as Rey walked to the cabin’s door. She smiled brightly at Luke and looked out into the rainy swamp as Luke started towards her with a lantern.

 

“Wait! Where are you going?”  
“I know what I have to do. Thank you, Luke. I - “ She placed a hand on his arm and smiled gently. “I knew you would help me, and you have.”

She took a step into the rain and smiled as it seeped into her scalp, a baptism of determination. She steeled herself as she slid down the sloping hill, mud spraying as she tumbled with a chuckle, and Luke’s voice behind her in the cottage caught her attention.

 

“Wait! Don’t you need this?” He waved the lantern overhead, barely visible behind the heavy veil of falling rain that separated them.

“I have everything I need! Thank you!”

 

Skipping and running, the former Empress of Venus chased lizards and fireflies through the bogs of the space station to the white door. Mud splashed around her soggy dress. She laughed at the drenched fabric splashing heavily as she panted. Ahead, there was an exit and a man and her whole life. He was trapped, but she was coming.

Rey’s alpha needed her, and she had absolutely everything she needed to rescue him now.

 

***********

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear readers,  
> Everything you _thought_ you thought about Leia, Ben, Han - it's all been leading here. 
> 
> No update next weekend, since Dr. Berry and I will be away celebrating an anniversary! _whoop!_ See you Saturday, May 11 for Chapter 16. We're into the second half of Act 2, and I can't wait to show you what our beautiful Ex-mpress is up to. She ain't perfect, but she's go a lotta heart. I love you guys so much! Thank you for your support and kindness! It means the world!  
> xoxo  
> Berry
> 
> *UPDATE: On Hiatus

**Author's Note:**

> come be my person on [twitter](https://twitter.com/berrywrites) or [tumblr](https://strawberrycupcakehuckleberrypie.tumblr.com/)


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